英语中，ludicrous、preposterous和ridiculous是一组容易见到的近义词，它们都有“可笑的”之意，并有相同的后缀（-ous）；但它们的词义有点不同，比较容易引起误解和误用。因此，有必要对它们作些辨析。
1、Ludicrous侧重指荒唐可笑（常有幽默感）。比如：
It's a completely ludicrous idea. [这主意真是荒唐透顶。]
It was ludicrous, but he was not amused. [样子可笑极了，可是他一点也不感觉有趣。]
It was ludicrous to think that they would agree to those proposals. [觉得他们会赞同这类建议，那就太可笑了。]
2、Preposterous侧重指反常或荒谬的可笑。比如：
Her thought was preposterous. [她的想法是荒谬可笑的。]
It was preposterous; it was impossible. [这太荒唐了，真不可想像。]
He hopes that his preposterous reasons may be understood. [他期望自己荒谬的原因能让人理解。]
3、Ridiculous侧重指滑稽到让人发笑的程度。比如：
It was an absolutely ridiculous decision. [这是一个绝对滑稽可笑的决定。]
The deal seems so attractive it would be ridiculous to say no. [这笔买卖看起来太诱惑了，如果拒绝它真的是笑话。]
Don Quixote may look ridiculous, but to me he is a tragic character. [唐吉诃德看着非常可笑，但我觉得他是个悲剧人物。]
由上可知，英语近义词ludicrous、preposterous和ridiculous的词义只不过基本意义相同而内涵意义不同。正如著名外国语言文学家、翻译家、教育家戴镏龄先生指出的那样：“近义词只不过在各种程度上的同义词，所谓同是相对的说法，即核心的意义相同，而又不可以在别方面没如此那样有什么区别。”
