gallows humor

noun

: humor that makes fun of a life-threatening, disastrous, or terrifying situation

Examples of gallows humor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But its gallows humor fit the Stanley perfectly, so Cullen moved Frozen Dead Guy Days here. Lee Cowan, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2024 Meetings are marked by occasional gallows humor about what catastrophe lurks around the corner. Peter Baker, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2024 Well, the use of gallows humor has been quite popular. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2024 Chock-full of brilliant gallows humor, the film caps with a wonderful mic-drop ending (of the sort that rarely gets made nowadays). Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 29 Aug. 2023 Piper is, once again, astounding as Suzie, fusing heartache with gallows humor and rage with stinging resignation. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 6 July 2023 Personality tests may have it otherwise, but many of us are fluid creatures who bounce among despair, loneliness, gallows humor, and silliness, sometimes all in the same 1/60 of an hour. Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2023 Tyronn Lue’s comment, in a tone of gallows humor, made its way around the internet within minutes. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023 Though many appreciated the gallows humor, others (especially those who have lost homes) found the cakes, well, distasteful. Madeleine Marr Miami Herald (tns), al, 23 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gallows humor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gallows humor was in 1901

Dictionary Entries Near gallows humor

Cite this Entry

“Gallows humor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gallows%20humor. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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