mirthless

adjective

mirth·​less ˈmərth-ləs How to pronounce mirthless (audio)
: containing no gaiety or joy
A vague mirthless grin contracted Liff Hyatt's face …Edith Wharton
Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh.J. K. Rowling
mirthlessly adverb
mirthlessness noun

Examples of mirthless in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
His mirthless laugh might have suggested Kafkaesque persecution, or Hardyesque inexorability of fate. Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024 Susan Faludi Laugh-In On the joyful Kamala Harris and the mirthless Donald Trump Nathaniel Rich Silent Spring Why aren’t the candidates talking about climate change? Patricia J. Williams, The New York Review of Books, 18 Oct. 2024 Cheung, who has only one friend at work (Leo Chen), fields mirthless calls from his wife and daughter in Taiwan that are always about money, nothing else. Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 May 2024 Not so much for Ben Affleck, a Boston fan whose train wreck of a set aimed for a cartoonish attack on fans who criticize the quarterback but felt real and mirthless. Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 7 May 2024 In a fanciful twist, Texas and California have cast their red-blue animus aside and forged the Western Forces, a secessionist axis seeking to topple the President (the ruthless, mirthless Nick Offerman), a despot who has appointed himself to a third term. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2024 The conversation plays out in full and without commentary: The irony of having to humor the advances of one man to prove those of another is plain and startling, though Ito, long hardened to such cruelties, also finds dry, mirthless humor in them. Guy Lodge, Variety, 26 Jan. 2024 Cline writes in a sleek, cool style that conveys both Alex’s naivete and her mirthless irony. Ron Charles, Washington Post, 9 May 2023 Hers is a Njinga that can make an enemy’s blood run cold with a mirthless smile or disarm a would-be lover with her sensuality — or move us to tenderness with shows of vulnerability. Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Middle English myrtheles, from myrthe mirth + -les -less

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mirthless was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near mirthless

Cite this Entry

“Mirthless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mirthless. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.

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