The ridiculous is that which is highly incongruous or inferior, sometimes deliberately so to make people laugh or get their attention, and sometimes unintended so as to be considered laughable and earn or provoke ridicule and derision. It comes from the 1540s Latino "ridiculosus" meaning "laughable", from "ridiculus" meaning "that which excites laughter", and from "ridere" meaning "to laugh". "Ridiculous" is an adjective describing "the ridiculous".