humor Hear it!

humor Definition

hu·mor (hyo̵̅o̅′mər, yo̵̅o̅′-)

noun

  1. any fluid or juice of an animal or plant; esp., any of the four fluids (cardinal humors) formerly considered responsible for one's health and disposition; blood, phlegm, choler, or melancholy
    1. a person's disposition or temperament
    2. a mood; state of mind
  3. whim; fancy; caprice
  4. the quality that makes something seem funny, amusing, or ludicrous; comicality
    1. the ability to perceive, appreciate, or express what is funny, amusing, or ludicrous
    2. the expression of this in speech, writing, or action
  6. any fluid or fluidlike substance of the body; blood, lymph, bile, etc. the aqueous humor

Etymology: ME < OFr < L humor, umor, moisture, fluid, akin to umere, to be moist < IE base *wegw-, *ugw-, moist, moisten, wake, Gr hygros, moist, fluid, Du wak, wet

transitive verb

  1. to comply with the mood or whim of (another); indulge
  2. to act in agreement with the nature of; adapt oneself to

humor Related Forms
hu′·mor·less adjective
humor Idioms

out of humor

not in a good mood; cross; disagreeable

humor Synonyms

humor

n.

  1. Comedy

    amusement, jesting, raillery, joking, merriment, buffoonery, tomfoolery, badinage, clowning, jocularity, jocoseness, farce, drollery, facetiousness, black humor, salt, whimsicality, comedy stuff*, laugh business*; see also entertainment 1, fun.

  2. An example of humor

    witticism, pleasantry, banter; see joke 1, 2.

  3. The ability to appreciate comedy

    good humor, sense of humor, wittiness, high spirits, merry disposition, joviality, jolliness, jocularity, jocundity, gaiety, joyfulness, playfulness, happy frame of mind, jauntiness; see also happiness 1.

  4. Mood

    disposition, frame of mind, temper; see mood 1. See syn. study at mood, wit.

out of humor

cross, disagreeable, grouchy; see irritable.

humor Synonyms

humor

v.

indulge, pamper, baby, play up to, gratify, please, pet, coddle, tickle, gladden, mollycoddle, spoil, oblige, comply with, appease, placate, soften, be playful with; see also comfort, entertain 1, satisfy 1.

Antonyms provoke, anger, enrage.

humor suggests compliance with the mood or whim of another they humored the dying man; indulge implies a yielding to the wishes or desires of oneself or another, as because of a weak will or an amiable nature; pamper implies overindulgence or excessive gratification; spoil emphasizes the harm done to the personality or character by overindulgence or excessive attention grandparents often spoil children; baby suggests the sort of pampering and devoted care lavished on infants and connotes a potential loss of self-reliance because he was sickly, his mother continued to baby him

humor Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • appreciate: Boxed Material: How does the brain appreciate humor?
  • like: In life I like playfulness, in fiction I like mature humor.
  • enjoy: I really enjoy the humor the author uses to lighten up the mood of the book.
  • find: Within our Saudi restaurant museum I found similar humor.
  • add: Sponsored by: Add a little Humor to your life, with a Joke or two.
  • see: Rose says: March 27th, 2006 at 11:23 pm Must be your Uk humor John because I didn't see the humor here?

Adjective modifier

  • deadpan: He was ruthless when needed, and his deadpan humor that was a trademark of Connery's returned.
  • aqueous: The eyes are especially sensitive to microwaves, whose energy is readily absorbed by the internal fluid, the aqueous humor.
  • wry: Irish wedding toasts are well known for their wit and wry humor, their sense of history and tradition.
  • twisted: And, of course, it features the twisted humor of Steve Jackson and the wacky cartoons of John Kovalic.
  • gentle: Rob shared so much of the joy and love in his life and used gentle humor to lift bad situations.
  • dark: A blazing third person gun slinging action game, Red Dead Revolver is fueled by a revenge driven storyline punctuated with dark humor.

Modifies a noun

  • cartoonist: The Cartoonists Rights Network's mission is the protection of editorial and humor cartoonists from any form of human or civil rights abuses.. .
  • quotation: Humor Quotations - Top 35 Funny Quotations by Famous Comedians Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe My next-door neighbors found a human bone in their backyard.
  • column: Suck The longest running daily humor column on the web.
  • ..: The Daily Dose - Clean humor mailing list...
  • site: Humor 100 - Top humor sites on the web ranked by visitor votes, including a search feature.
  • page: Complaints, links to personal pages, and calculus humor pages.

Noun used with modifier

  • gallows: The Simon Wiesenthal Center dismissed the contest as " gallows humor.
  • toilet: The toilet seat commonly features in sight gags connecting to toilet humor.

Browse dictionary entries near humor

  1. ‹ humongous
  2. ‹ hummus
  3. ‹ hummock
  4. ‹ hummingbird
  5. ‹ humming
  6. ‹ hummer
  7. ‹ hummable
  8. ‹ humility
  9. ‹ humiliation
  10. ‹ humiliating
  1. humoral ›
  2. humoresque ›
  3. humorist ›
  4. humorous ›
  5. humorously ›
  6. humour ›
  7. hump ›
  8. humpback ›
  9. humpbacked ›
  10. humped ›