as in solemn
not joking or playful in mood or manner
humorless people who can't see the lighter side of life
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of humorless
Funny novels are invariably more serious than humorless ones.
—
Rosa Lyster, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Fueled by a humorless fear of precisely the human experiences and emotions that connect us, book banning ironically often metamorphosizes into acts of promotion, and just as often ends up exposing vile and corrosive hypocrisy in those lighting the matches.
—Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025
In Prime 4, Samus is humorless, simply nodding along while others try their best at second-rate comedy.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 2 Dec. 2025
Single-minded and fairly humorless, Chappellet is impelled but seldom impulsive.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humorless
Rosa Lyster, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Fueled by a humorless fear of precisely the human experiences and emotions that connect us, book banning ironically often metamorphosizes into acts of promotion, and just as often ends up exposing vile and corrosive hypocrisy in those lighting the matches.
—Literary Hub, 10 Dec. 2025
In Prime 4, Samus is humorless, simply nodding along while others try their best at second-rate comedy.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 2 Dec. 2025
Single-minded and fairly humorless, Chappellet is impelled but seldom impulsive.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for humorless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humorless
Adjective
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Scenes from some of the Robert Pearson character’s old movies are done in a 1940s Hollywood style using young actors that resemble James Dean or Robert Mitchum juxtaposed with the stark, solemn, isolated existence of the elderly Pearson.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
9 Apr. 2026
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Although the pope celebrates mass regularly on Sundays, feast days, and many other occasions, the Urbi et Orbi blessing is much rarer, reserved for solemn events in the church’s liturgical calendar.—
Leo XIV,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The breadth of recent enforcement actions and license revocations makes clear that this is a serious, ongoing problem that demands immediate and sustained action.—
Tom Koutsoumpas,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
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But that document raised serious questions about recent assertions made by the city in a related lawsuit.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Now, the historic oil crisis triggered by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran is posing the sternest test to date of China’s Promethean effort toward energy self-sufficiency.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN Money,
21 Apr. 2026
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The cast is a murderers row of British actors, and the twisting plot of the novel is full of introspection and doubt, which makes for a tight 127 minutes of shocking revelations told through stern and troubled looks.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Then, trace your finger to its peak, which, to me, was his starring role as smoldering special forces operative Scott McCoy in the 1986 action movie The Delta Force, co-starring a frail-looking but grizzled and unsmiling Lee Marvin in his last movie.—
John DeVore,
Rolling Stone,
20 Mar. 2026
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After school one day, an unsmiling official from a mysterious worldwide organization, Eva Stratt (played by German actress Sandra Hüller, of Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest), accosts him and humorlessly recruits him for a special project.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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And there is talk, apparently in earnest, about the Antichrist.—
Amy Davidson Sorkin,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2026
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As production started in earnest, the team behind the film said their film will blend the spirit of a road movie with the magical language characteristic of Coelho’s work.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Humorless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humorless. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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