HUMORLESSNESS Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

humorlessness

noun

as in earnestness

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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.

Recent Examples of humorlessness One of my major disappointments in a lot of the writing was its humorlessness. — Diya Chacko, Oc Register, 21 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for humorlessness

Noun

Adults is almost always at its best when there’s a method to the madness, a kernel of earnestness at the heart of it all.

— Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
That the earnestness the genre requires galls us cynics, who love to hide in our books, away from all those pesky bodies in the first place?

— Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of earnestness

Noun

As Agathe comes to understand the extent of her troubles, Exarchopoulos’ performance achieves a sorrowful gravitas.

— Jon Frosch, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Jan. 2023
Henriksen plays his part to the hilt here, bringing a gravitas that few actors would consider bringing to the role of a shoot-'em-up movie villain.

— Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 11 Jan. 2023

Definition of gravitas

Noun

These statements show a total disregard for confidentiality, basic investigative standards and the seriousness of ethics violations.

— Collin Corbett, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
Adults’s Gen-Z characters tend to see their comforts as transient, their identities as mutable, and seriousness as an annoying obligation, all of which the second season pokes at a bit.

— Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of seriousness

Noun

There’s a gravity, even a melancholy to her Mary Stone, which drew on Fabares’ ability to project a genuine inner life into the least promising scenarios.

— Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Biting into it feels tectonic, cracking and flaking and crumbling, the gravity of umami keeping it all together.

— The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of gravity

Noun

By May 2026, all 11 of xAI’s original cofounders had departed the company, a cascade that began in earnest in February when Tony Wu, described as one of the most operationally central cofounders, announced his resignation.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 June 2026
Modern viticulture began in earnest here in the 1970s before blossoming in the ’90s.

— Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 22 June 2026

Definition of earnest

Noun

Gore is best known for Make America Great Again, her 2016 naked portrait of Trump with the paunch and solemnity of the great men of art history, adding, crucially, the tiniest of compensatory micropenises.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 14 June 2026
As his own self-celebration has fizzled, a void has opened between the scheduled roster of events and the true purpose and meaning of the solemnity of July 4, 2026.

— David Frum, The Atlantic, 31 May 2026

Definition of solemnity

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humorless

humorlessness

humorous

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Style

“Humorlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humorlessness. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of humorlessness

noun

Example Sentences

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