UNAMUSING Synonyms: 62 Similar and Opposite Words

unamusing

adjective

Definition of unamusing

as in humorless

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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 unamusing For some, the fundamental flaw will be that, despite the title, the comic material (mostly culled from vintage gags of the period) the characters perform onstage sounds painfully unamusing to contemporary ears. — Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2017

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unamusing

Adjective

Walker joins as the imposing, entitled and humorless Peter Van Laar III, the wealthy heir to the Van Laar estate, whose behavior is a struggle for both his wife, Alice, and 13-year-old daughter.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 28 May 2026
Patton, a notoriously tough and humorless commander, considered Willy and Joe to be a threat to discipline and morale — quite the opposite of the way many fans saw them.

— Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026

Definition of humorless

Adjective

Poetry gets left behind by the exigency of character development or, in the movie’s self-defeating logic, because the art form doesn’t really matter and is only a lame excuse for people who won’t take responsibility and grow up.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
Blumenthal hopes to see action on KOSA in the lame-duck session.

— Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of lame

Adjective

The film’s pick-me jabs at humor are frankly, flatly unfunny and grating, twisting the film at times into a perverse, almost self-aware treatise on tweeness.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 20 Oct. 2026
So maybe a gratuitous and unfunny line about anyone taking out American cities is better left unsaid.

— Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of unfunny

Adjective

Contemplation of this tax — which produced $384 million in the last fiscal year — has consumed endless hours of work from some of the county’s most respected leaders, and drawn earnest public testimony from dozens of people.

— Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026
The video plays hopscotch with tone—at once horrific, ridiculous, and bathetically earnest.

— Eugenie Brinkema, ARTnews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of earnest

Adjective

The subject is of particular interest at CBS News, where Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has repeatedly encouraged the network’s journalists to dedicate serious resources to finding a potential link.

— semafor.com, semafor.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Illinois Republicans are angry that the congressional map is deliberately drawn to their serious disadvantage, with some districts almost comically gerrymandered.

— John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of serious

Browse Nearby Words

unamiable

unamusing

unanchored

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Unamusing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unamusing. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of unamusing

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

emissary

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes