笑い
わらい · warai · JLPT N3 · noun
laugh
warai sounds like what a riot! Said when something makes you laugh
笑 has bamboo 竹 on top. A common explanation says it shows a person bending with laughter like bamboo bending in the wind. The verb form is 笑う (warau), to laugh, and 笑い is the noun.
笑 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 夭 (yāo, bending)
Originally written with the bamboo radical over 夭, depicting a person bending or swaying. One traditional reading is that bamboo bends in the wind like a person doubling over with laughter. The character has meant 'laugh, smile' since early times, with no major shift in meaning.