humor

noun hu·mor \ ˈhyü-mər , ˈyü- \

Updated on: 19 Apr 2018

Definition of humor

1 a : a normal functioning bodily semifluid or fluid (such as the blood or lymph)

b physiology : a secretion (such as a hormone) that is an excitant of activity

2 a in medieval physiology : a fluid or juice of an animal or plant; specifically : one of the four fluids entering into the constitution of the body and determining by their relative proportions a person's health and temperament

b : characteristic or habitual disposition or bent : temperament

of cheerful humor

c : an often temporary state of mind imposed especially by circumstances

was in no humor to listen

d : a sudden, unpredictable, or unreasoning inclination : whim

… conceived the humor of impeaching casual passers-by … and wreaking vengeance on them.
—Charles Dickens

the uncertain humors of nature

3 a : that quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous : a funny or amusing quality

Try to appreciate the humor of the situation.

b : the mental faculty of discovering, expressing, or appreciating the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous : the ability to be funny or to be amused by things that are funny

a guy with a great sense of humor

c : something that is or is designed to be comical or amusing

The book is a collection of American humor.

not a fan of the comedian's brand of humor

— out of humor

: out of sorts

See humor defined for English-language learners

See humor defined for kids

Examples of humor in a Sentence

He didn't appreciate the humor of the situation.
Someday, you'll see the humor in this.
Everyone likes the gentle humor of his stories of family life.
She doesn't care for ethnic humor.
The book is a collection of American humor.
His humor is one of his most attractive qualities.

Recent Examples of humor from the Web

Director Lisa James and a cast of Tanner regulars know precisely how to mine the humor.

— matt cooper, latimes.com, "The week ahead in L.A. theater, April 15-22: 'Native Son,' Laurie Anderson and more," 15 Apr. 2018
Hungerford and his cast play the humor quite broadly, perhaps even more than the surrounding text seems to suggest.

— david lyman, Cincinnati.com, "Review: Ada and the Engine inspiring, absorbing and heartbreaking," 14 Apr. 2018
Some students and shooting survivors, including Hogg, have used humor to deflect online trolls and provocateurs since the Feb. 14 massacre that killed 14 students and three educators.

— michael mayo, Sun-Sentinel.com, "David Hogg shrugs off St. Louis broadcaster's vulgar tweet," 10 Apr. 2018
Some of the humor has been punched up and Gondorff now has a background as a former saloon pianist, which provides the opportunity for Connick to display his keyboard skills.

— frank scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Sting': Theater Review," 9 Apr. 2018
But Jeremy preempted the trolls by using some self-deprecating humor.

— megan friedman, Good Housekeeping, "Jeremy and Audrey Roloff Immediately Got Mean Comments After Returning to Instagram," 5 Apr. 2018
Overall, Bernie is a delightful dark comedy that doesn’t lean too heavily into either the darkness or the humor.

— lincoln michel, GQ, "Bernie Is the Best True Crime Black Comedy on Netflix," 2 Apr. 2018
These puppets have filthy foam mouths, and no pop-culture icon — nor any drunken audience member — is exempt from the juvenile humor and outrageous ad-libbing of spoofer-in-chief Shaun Michael McNamara.

— kerry lengel, azcentral, "Top musicals, plays to see in Phoenix: 'Color Purple,' 'Three Sistahs,' 'Low Down Dirty Blues'," 2 Apr. 2018
Elliott realizes that the humor in Kushner’s play is adjacent to loss.

— alex abad-santos, Vox, "What it’s like to watch Angels in America in an age of making America great again," 30 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'humor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

In the Middle Ages it was believed that a person’s health and disposition were the result of a balance of four fluids in the body. These fluids were called humors, from the Latin word humor, meaning “moisture.” The fluids were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. If a person had a cheerful disposition, it was said to be a result of an excess of blood. A sluggish disposition was the result of an excess of phlegm. A hot-tempered disposition was said to be caused by an excess of yellow bile, and the disposition of a gloomy person was the result of an excess of black bile. In time, humor came to be used as a general term for “disposition or temperament.” From this developed the sense of “a changeable state of mind” or “mood.” More recently humor has come to refer to something that is funny.

Origin and Etymology of humor

Middle English humour, from Anglo-French umor, umour, from Medieval Latin & Latin; Medieval Latin humor, from Latin humor, umor moisture; akin to Old Norse vǫkr damp, Latin humēre to be moist, and perhaps to Greek hygros wet

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

humor Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of humor

wit, humor, irony, sarcasm, satire, repartee mean a mode of expression intended to arouse amusement. wit suggests the power to evoke laughter by remarks showing verbal felicity or ingenuity and swift perception especially of the incongruous.

- a playful wit

humor implies an ability to perceive the ludicrous, the comical, and the absurd in human life and to express these usually without bitterness.

- a sense of humor

irony applies to a manner of expression in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is seemingly expressed.

- the irony of the title

sarcasm applies to expression frequently in the form of irony that is intended to cut or wound.

- given to heartless sarcasm

satire applies to writing that exposes or ridicules conduct, doctrines, or institutions either by direct criticism or more often through irony, parody, or caricature.

- a satire on the Congress

repartee implies the power of answering quickly, pointedly, or wittily.

- a dinner guest noted for repartee

humor

verb

Definition of humor

humored; humoring play \ˈhyüm-riŋ, ˈyüm-, ˈhyü-mə-, ˈyü-\

transitive verb

1 : to soothe or content (someone) by indulgence : to comply with the temperament or inclinations of

The only way to get along with him is to humor him.

I know you don't agree, but just humor me.

2 : to adapt oneself to

yielding to, and humoring the motion of the limbs and twigs
—William Bartram

See humor defined for English-language learners

Examples of humor in a Sentence

The only way to get along with him is to humor him.
humored her grandfather by listening to his war stories for the hundredth time

Recent Examples of humor from the Web

Despite this, Mattis seems to be humoring the president’s demands and coming up with some options to fund the border wall through the military.

— tara golshan, Vox, "No, Donald Trump can’t just use Pentagon money for his border wall," 30 Mar. 2018
The younger Lakers have been good about humoring him, at least until Julius Randle drew a line in the sand during the Warriors game.

— andrew sharp, SI.com, "Long Live the Lean Years of the Interim Lakers," 16 Mar. 2018
Meanwhile, Gigi's expression suggests she's humored by Zayn's attempt to kiss her.

— elizabeth narins, Cosmopolitan, "Were Gigi and Zayn Doomed All Along? A Body Language Expert Answers," 14 Mar. 2018
Late Tuesday night, Chrissy Teigen tweeted a question many of us have humored before.

— lindsey lanquist, SELF, "Chrissy Teigen (and Everyone Else) Wants to Know if Acid Reflux Can Kill You," 21 Feb. 2018
Advice, advocacy and suggestions are humored, at best, and routinely dismissed.

— justin jouvenal, Washington Post, "Fairfax County fire chief announces retirement amid complaints about handling of sexual harassment," 16 Feb. 2018
Flake was cordial and played along, humoring Colbert by giving his best guesses as to what was behind the redacted description of Nunes.

— will flannigan, azcentral, "Stephen Colbert steals Sen. Jeff Flake's office rug during late-night sketch," 6 Mar. 2018
As embodied by the experimental theater veteran Jim Fletcher in the modernist Underground Theater at Abrons Arts Center, Jackson Pollock can be fascinating to watch — a brooding, dry-humored malcontent in the 20th-century American-genius mold.

— laura collins-hughes, New York Times, "Review: Lee Krasner Gets the Upper Hand in ‘Pollock’," 19 Feb. 2018
Then there was currently injured Kevin Love, corralling a defensive rebound and leaning over almost to his waist, handing the ball to Thomas with both hands as if humoring a child.

— bill livingston, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Cavaliers: A daring roster makeover, without misfit Thomas -- Bill Livingston," 8 Feb. 2018

Origin and Etymology of humor

see ¹humor

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1597

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

humor Synonyms

Synonyms

cater (to), gratify, indulge;

Near Antonyms

bridle, check, constrain, curb, inhibit, restrain, stifle;

Related Words

bask, luxuriate, revel, wallow;

coddle, mollycoddle, pamper, spoil;

delight, please, pleasure;

sate, satiate, satisfy;

Synonym Discussion of humor

indulge, pamper, humor, spoil, baby, mollycoddle mean to show undue favor to a person's desires and feelings. indulge implies excessive compliance and weakness in gratifying another's or one's own desires.

- indulged myself with food at the slightest excuse

pamper implies inordinate gratification of desire for luxury and comfort with consequent enervating effect.

- pampered by the amenities of modern living

humor stresses a yielding to a person's moods or whims.

- humored him by letting him tell the story

spoil stresses the injurious effects on character by indulging or pampering.

- foolish parents spoil their children

baby suggests excessive care, attention, or solicitude.

- babying students by grading too easily

mollycoddle suggests an excessive degree of care and attention to another's health or welfare.

- refused to mollycoddle her malingering son

HUMOR Defined for English Language Learners

humor

noun

Definition of humor for English Language Learners

: a funny or amusing quality
: jokes, funny stories, etc., of a particular kind
: the ability to be funny or to be amused by things that are funny

humor

verb

Definition of humor for English Language Learners

: to try to please or satisfy (someone) by doing what is wanted

HUMOR Defined for Kids

humor

noun hu·mor \ ˈhyü-mər , ˈyü- \

Definition of humor for Students

1 : the amusing quality of something

She couldn't see the humor of the situation.

2 : the ability to see or tell the amusing quality of things

3 : state of mind : mood

… they were not in a very good humor because they had been arguing …
—Robert McClosky, Homer Price

—

humorless

\-ləs\ adjective

humor

verb

Definition of humor for Students

humored; humoring

: to give in to the wishes of

I humored her and listened to her ridiculous idea.

Medical Dictionary

humor

noun hu·mor

variants: or chiefly British humour play \ˈhyü-mər, ˈyü-\

medical Definition of humor

1 a : a normal functioning bodily semifluid or fluid (as the blood or lymph)

b : a secretion (as a hormone) that is an excitant of activity

2 in ancient and medieval physiology : a fluid or juice of an animal or plant; specifically : one of the four fluids that were believed to enter into the constitution of the body and to determine by their relative proportions a person's health and temperament — see black bile, blood 3, phlegm 1, yellow bile