"humorless" meaning in English

See humorless in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: more humorless [comparative], most humorless [superlative], humourless [alternative]
Etymology: From humor + -less. Etymology templates: {{suffix|en|humor|less}} humor + -less Head templates: {{en-adj}} humorless (comparative more humorless, superlative most humorless)
  1. (American spelling) Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted. Tags: US Hypernyms: cheerless, lacking, serious, stern Hyponyms: agelastic, jokeproof [rare], unamused, nonfunny, unamusing, uncomic, uncomical, unfunny, unwitty Derived forms: humorlessly, humorlessness Related terms: lack-laughter [obsolete], misogelastic [literary, rare], boring, sad Translations (lacking humor): humorloos (Dutch), kuivakka (Finnish), tosikkomainen (Finnish), witzlos (German), humorlos (German), лишенный чувства юмора (lišennyj čuvstva jumora) (Russian)

Alternative forms

{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "amused"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "funny"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "humor",
        "3": "less"
      },
      "expansion": "humor + -less",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From humor + -less.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more humorless",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most humorless",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "humourless",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "humorless (comparative more humorless, superlative most humorless)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -less",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "humorlessly"
        },
        {
          "word": "humorlessness"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              51
            ]
          ],
          "text": "He watched the little dog's antics with a humorless stare.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              23,
              32
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1983 April 23, The BiVocals, “Gay-Identified Bisexuals”, in Gay Community News, page 4:",
          "text": "At the risk of seeming humorless, we would like to point out some problems with the \"bisexuality\" insurance cartoon which appeared in the April Fool's issue of GCN.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted."
      ],
      "hypernyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "cheerless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "lacking"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "serious"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "stern"
        }
      ],
      "hyponyms": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "agelastic"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "jokeproof"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unamused"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "nonfunny"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unamusing"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "uncomic"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "uncomical"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unfunny"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unwitty"
        }
      ],
      "id": "en-humorless-en-adj-rstqx8vV",
      "links": [
        [
          "humor",
          "humor"
        ],
        [
          "levity",
          "levity"
        ],
        [
          "serious",
          "serious"
        ],
        [
          "funny",
          "funny"
        ],
        [
          "amusing",
          "amusing"
        ],
        [
          "amused",
          "amused"
        ],
        [
          "lighthearted",
          "lighthearted"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American spelling) Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "lack-laughter"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "tags": [
            "literary",
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "misogelastic"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "boring"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "sad"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "harsh"
        },
        {
          "word": "jokeless"
        },
        {
          "word": "mirthless"
        },
        {
          "word": "unfunny"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "cheerless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "comfortless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "bleak"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dark"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "depressing"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "desolate"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dire"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "disconsolate"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dismal"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "doleful"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dolesome"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "drear"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "drearisome"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dreary"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "tags": [
            "UK",
            "dialectal"
          ],
          "word": "dreich"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "forlorn"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gayless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gray"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gloomsome"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gloomy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "grim"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "joyless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "lack-laughter"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "lugubrious"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "melancholy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "mirthless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "miserable"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "no joke"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "saturnine"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "solemn"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "somber"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "sombre"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "spiritless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "sullen"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "sunless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "uncheerful"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "uncheery"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "unhappy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "unmerry"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "wintry"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "woeful"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "funny as a dose of the clap"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "jokeless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "humorless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "irrisible"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "laughless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "mirthless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "nonhumorous"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unhilarious"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unhumorous"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unhysterical"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unjocose"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "unjocular"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unlaughable"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
          "word": "unmirthful"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "lang_code": "nl",
          "sense": "lacking humor",
          "word": "humorloos"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "lacking humor",
          "word": "kuivakka"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "lacking humor",
          "word": "tosikkomainen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "lacking humor",
          "word": "witzlos"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "lang_code": "de",
          "sense": "lacking humor",
          "word": "humorlos"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "lang_code": "ru",
          "roman": "lišennyj čuvstva jumora",
          "sense": "lacking humor",
          "word": "лишенный чувства юмора"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "humorless"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "amused"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "funny"
    }
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "humorlessly"
    },
    {
      "word": "humorlessness"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "humor",
        "3": "less"
      },
      "expansion": "humor + -less",
      "name": "suffix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From humor + -less.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more humorless",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most humorless",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "humourless",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "humorless (comparative more humorless, superlative most humorless)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "cheerless"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "lacking"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "serious"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "stern"
    }
  ],
  "hyponyms": [
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "agelastic"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "jokeproof"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unamused"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "nonfunny"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unamusing"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "uncomic"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "uncomical"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unfunny"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unwitty"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "word": "lack-laughter"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "tags": [
        "literary",
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "misogelastic"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "boring"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "sad"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English forms",
        "English adjectives",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English terms suffixed with -less",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              51
            ]
          ],
          "text": "He watched the little dog's antics with a humorless stare.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              23,
              32
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1983 April 23, The BiVocals, “Gay-Identified Bisexuals”, in Gay Community News, page 4:",
          "text": "At the risk of seeming humorless, we would like to point out some problems with the \"bisexuality\" insurance cartoon which appeared in the April Fool's issue of GCN.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humor",
          "humor"
        ],
        [
          "levity",
          "levity"
        ],
        [
          "serious",
          "serious"
        ],
        [
          "funny",
          "funny"
        ],
        [
          "amusing",
          "amusing"
        ],
        [
          "amused",
          "amused"
        ],
        [
          "lighthearted",
          "lighthearted"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(American spelling) Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "harsh"
        },
        {
          "word": "jokeless"
        },
        {
          "word": "mirthless"
        },
        {
          "word": "unfunny"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "cheerless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "comfortless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "bleak"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dark"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "depressing"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "desolate"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dire"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "disconsolate"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dismal"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "doleful"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dolesome"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "drear"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "drearisome"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "dreary"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "tags": [
            "UK",
            "dialectal"
          ],
          "word": "dreich"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "forlorn"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gayless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gray"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gloomsome"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "gloomy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "grim"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "joyless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "lack-laughter"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "lugubrious"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "melancholy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "mirthless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "miserable"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "no joke"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "saturnine"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "solemn"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "somber"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "sombre"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "spiritless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "sullen"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "sunless"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "uncheerful"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "uncheery"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "unhappy"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "unmerry"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "wintry"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:cheerless",
          "word": "woeful"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "funny as a dose of the clap"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "jokeless"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "humorless"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ],
      "word": "irrisible"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "laughless"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "mirthless"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "nonhumorous"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unhilarious"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unhumorous"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unhysterical"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unjocose"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "unjocular"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unlaughable"
    },
    {
      "source": "Thesaurus:humorless",
      "word": "unmirthful"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "lang_code": "nl",
      "sense": "lacking humor",
      "word": "humorloos"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "lacking humor",
      "word": "kuivakka"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "lacking humor",
      "word": "tosikkomainen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "lacking humor",
      "word": "witzlos"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "lang_code": "de",
      "sense": "lacking humor",
      "word": "humorlos"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "lišennyj čuvstva jumora",
      "sense": "lacking humor",
      "word": "лишенный чувства юмора"
    }
  ],
  "word": "humorless"
}

Download raw JSONL data for humorless meaning in English (6.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-12-23 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-12-02 using wiktextract (6fdc867 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.