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Est. 1828
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HUMOR

1 of 2


NOUN

hu· mor ˈhyü-mər How to pronounce humor (audio)
ˈyü-

plural humors
Synonyms of humornext
1
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 woman 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


2
a
: an often temporary state of mind imposed especially by circumstances
was in no humor to listen

b
: characteristic or habitual disposition or bent : temperament
of cheerful humor

c
in ancient and medieval physiology : 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 entry 1
sense 4a(2), phlegm sense 2, yellow bile
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
: 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



humor

2 of 2


VERB

humored; humoring ˈhyüm-riŋ How to pronounce humor (audio)
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


Phrases
out of humor
: out of sorts



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.


SYNONYMS

Noun

   
 * comedy
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * comic
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * comicality
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * drollery
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * drollness
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * funniness
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * hilariousness
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * humorousness
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * richness
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * uproariousness
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Verb

   
 * cater (to)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * gratify
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 * indulge
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 
Choose the Right Synonym for humor

Noun

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



Verb

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




EXAMPLES OF HUMOR IN A SENTENCE

Noun 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. Verb 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
See More

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
There is tragedy lurking beneath the sardonic humor of these works. — Philip
Kennicott, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2023 But the morsels of reciprocity offered
up by influencers and celebrities can’t compare to the feast of dialogue,
memory, humor, and simulated empathy offered by today’s AI companions. — Ethan
Brooks, The Atlantic, 14 Dec. 2023
Showing Up Comedy has not factored much in the films of Kelly Reichardt, but the
director’s latest collaboration with frequent muse Michelle Williams and Pacific
Northwest author Jon Raymond has a low-key vein of humor that often recalls the
eccentric American microcosms of vintage Robert Altman. — David Rooney, The
Hollywood Reporter, 13 Dec. 2023 Yet Braugher’s delivery was so dry that Holt’s
lack of expressiveness became the series’ most reliable source of humor. — Alan
Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 13 Dec. 2023 Grab it from your library Buy it
Advertisement Finding My Elf By David Valdes HarperTeen Valdes’ roots: Cuba /
U.S. Pour yourself a cup of eggnog and dive into this young adult rom-com that
blends humor and heart. — Roxsy Lin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2023 Its memes
are riddled with racist stereotypes, demeaning tropes about L.G.B.T.Q. people
and broad scatological humor. — Ken Bensinger, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2023 Grok
also has to balance humor with its ostensible pragmatic purpose: real-time
answers. — Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 8 Dec. 2023 The steampunk fairy tale
opens limited this weekend to strong reviews, and its sumptuous visual
imagination and plentiful humor should ensure nominations all across the ballot.
— Vulture, 8 Dec. 2023
Verb
Audra spoke with an air of patience, like one humoring a small child. — Joyce
Carol Oates, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023 The episode mines humor out of
Boimler and Mariner’s starry-eyed interactions with their heroes — like Anson
Mount’s Capt. Pike, Ethan Peck’s Spock, Rebecca Romijn’s Number One, and Celia
Rose Gooding’s Uhura. — Adam B. Vary, Variety, 25 July 2023 Todd humored me,
even taking a few photos on Humpback Rock, but there were no further hiking pit
stops. — Brian Underwood, Women's Health, 13 July 2023 Adam humored his dad and
opened the book in front of him. — Matt B. Weir, Harper's Magazine, 11 Jan. 2022
These stories lend credence to the idea that gender is a static, immutable,
biological reality, and that trans people’s identities are flimsy
self-constructions to be humored if not believed. — Kyle Lukoff, Harper's
BAZAAR, 10 May 2023 The first is the likelihood that most House Republicans
really are clinically mad this time around, such that President Biden, unlike
his predecessor Mr. Obama, will see literally no point in aiming to ‘humor’ the
‘fiscally demented’ or ‘fiscal terrorists,’ as Biden has colorfully referred to
them. — Robert Hockett, Forbes, 7 May 2023 Most lawmakers were far less ruthless
but were clearly only humoring DeSantis. — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 19
Apr. 2023 And then my stylist asked me to humor her and try on a wedding gown. —
Hannah Rimm, refinery29.com, 11 Apr. 2023
See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to
illustrate current usage of the word 'humor.' Any opinions expressed in the
examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us
feedback about these examples.




WORD HISTORY

Etymology

Noun and Verb

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

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2c

Verb

1597, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of humor was in the 14th century
See more words from the same century


PHRASES CONTAINING HUMOR

 * sense of humor
 * gallows humor
 * vitreous humor
 * aqueous humor
 * good humor
 * out of humor

 * sense of humor
 * gallows humor
 * vitreous humor
 * aqueous humor
 * good humor
 * out of humor


ARTICLES RELATED TO HUMOR

Humorless Words for the Bodily Humors

From the sanguine to the downright choleric




DICTIONARY ENTRIES NEAR HUMOR

humongous

humor

humoral

See More Nearby Entries 


CITE THIS ENTRY

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“Humor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster,
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humor. Accessed 18 Dec. 2023.

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KIDS DEFINITION

humor

1 of 2 noun
hu· mor ˈhyü-mər How to pronounce humor (audio)
ˈyü-
1
: a changeable state of mind often influenced by circumstances
in a bad humor


2
: the amusing quality of things
the humor of a situation


3
: the power to see or tell about the amusing or comic side of things

4
: something that is humorous

humorless
-ləs
adjective
humorlessness noun

humor

2 of 2 verb
humored; humoring ˈhyüm-(ə-)riŋ How to pronounce humor (audio)
ˈyüm-
: to go along with the wishes or mood of
humor a sick person

Etymology

Noun

Middle English humour "one of the four bodily fluids thought to affect a
person's health," from early French umor, umour (same meaning), derived from
Latin humor, umor "moisture"

Word Origin
In the Middle Ages it was believed that a person's health and disposition were
the result of a balance or imbalance of four fluids in the body. These fluids
were called "humors," from the Latin word humor, meaning "moisture." These
fluids were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. If a person had a
cheerful, confident disposition, it was said to be a result of an excess of
blood. Such a person was called "sanguine," from the Latin word sanguis, meaning
"blood." A sluggish disposition was said to be the result of an excess of
phlegm. A person having such a disposition was called "phlegmatic," from the
Greek word phlegma, meaning "flame, phlegm." A fiery, hot-tempered disposition
was said to be caused by an excess of yellow bile. A person with this
disposition was said to be "choleric," from the Greek word cholē, meaning
"bile." The disposition of a gloomy, depressed person was said to be the result
of an excess of black bile. Such a person was called "melancholy," from the
Greek words melan-, meaning "black," and cholē, meaning "bile." In time the word
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.



MEDICAL DEFINITION

humor

noun
hu· mor
variants or chiefly British humour
ˈhyü-mər How to pronounce humor (audio) ˈyü- How to pronounce humor (audio)
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 : 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 sense 3,
phlegm sense 2, yellow bile



MORE FROM MERRIAM-WEBSTER ON HUMOR

Nglish: Translation of humor for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of humor for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about humor

Last Updated: 18 Dec 2023 - Updated example sentences
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