Definition of "laughing stock"
laughing stock
noun
plural laughing stocks
(idiomatic) An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.
Quotations
When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.
1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith ”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871
The split was supposedly triggered by racism — specifically anti-Jewish racism. But on this front, the Independent Group have already become a laughingstock.
2019 February 19, Annie Cohen, 'Yes, There’s Anti-Semitism In Labour. No, Those Politicians Didn’t Quit Over It.', The Forward (retrieved 21 February 2019)
Toronto Transit Corporation had real issues. [...] My boss was removed in a coup three months after my arrival. I stood in and my learning curve went through the roof. Over five years, we went from being a laughing stock to winning awards.
2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 54