humorless

H4U1M3O1R1L1E1S1S1

adjective

Lacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted.

“He watched the little dog's antics with a humorless stare.”

Similar
harshjokelessmirthlessunfunnycheerlesscomfortlessbleakdark
Opposite
amusedfunnyhumorous
OriginProto-Germanic *lausaz ← Proto-Indo-European *lewHs- ← English humor →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

adjectivehumorless (comparative more humorless, superlative most humorless)

comparative more humorless · superlative most humorless · alternative humourless

  1. USLacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted.

    He watched the little dog's antics with a humorless stare.

    1 more example

    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.

    1983 April 23, The BiVocals, “Gay-Identified Bisexuals”, in Gay Community News, page 4

    Synonyms: harsh, jokeless, mirthless, unfunny, cheerless, comfortless, bleak, dark

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveLacking humor or levity; serious; not funny, amusing, amused, or lighthearted.

Similar
harshjokelessmirthlessunfunnycheerlesscomfortlessbleakdarkmorosedepressingdesolatediredisconsolatedismaldolefuldolesomedreardrearisomedrearydreich
Opposite
amusedfunny

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivelacking humor

Similar
humourlessunhumoroussobersidedpo-facedunfunny
Opposite
humorous
Also see
agelasticfunny as a dose of the clapirrisiblejokeprooflaughlessnonfunnynonhumorouspo-facedsobersidedsternunamusedunamusinguncomicuncomicalunfunnyunhilariousunhumorousunhystericalunjocoseunjocularunlaughableunsmiling

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishhumor
  2. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
  4. Proto-Germanic*leusaną
  5. Proto-Germanic*lausaz
  6. Englishhumorless

From humor + -less.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Dutch humorloos
  • humorlooslacking humor
Finnish kuivakka, tosikkomainen
  • kuivakkalacking humor
  • tosikkomainenlacking humor
German witzlos, humorlos
  • witzloslacking humor
  • humorloslacking humor
Russian лишенный чувства юмора
  • лишенный чувства юмора (lišennyj čuvstva jumora)lacking humor
Cite this entry
APA

humorless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humorless

MLA

“humorless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humorless. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “humorless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humorless.

Source: humorless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.