hu·mor (hy  m r)n. 1. The quality that makes something laughable or amusing; funniness: could not see the humor of the situation. 2. That which is intended to induce laughter or amusement: a writer skilled at crafting humor. 3. The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd. See Synonyms at wit1. 4. One of the four fluids of the body, blood, phlegm, choler, and black bile, whose relative proportions were thought in ancient and medieval physiology to determine a person's disposition and general health. 5. Physiology a. A body fluid, such as blood, lymph, or bile. b. Aqueous humor. c. Vitreous humor. 6. A person's characteristic disposition or temperament: a boy of sullen humor. 7. An often temporary state of mind; a mood: I'm in no humor to argue. 8. a. A sudden, unanticipated whim. See Synonyms at mood1. b. Capricious or peculiar behavior. tr.v. hu·mored, hu·mor·ing, hu·mors Idiom: 1. To comply with the wishes or ideas of; indulge. 2. To adapt or accommodate oneself to. See Synonyms at pamper. out of humor In a bad mood; irritable. [Middle English, fluid, from Old French umor, from Latin  mor, hmor.] |
| humor (hymr) 1. See aqueous humor. 2. See vitreous humor. 3. One of the four fluids of the body  blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bilewhose relative proportions were thought in ancient and medieval medicine to determine general health and character.Word History Doctors in ancient times and in the Middle Ages thought the human body contained a mixture of four substances, called humors, that determined a person's health and character. The humors were fluids (humor means "fluid" in Latin), and they differed from each other in being either warm or cold and moist or dry. Each humor was also associated with one of the four elements, the basic substances that made up the universe in ancient schemes of thought. Blood was the warm, moist humor associated with the element fire, and phlegm was the cold, moist humor associated with water. Black bile was the cold, dry humor associated with the earth, and yellow bile was the warm, dry humor associated with the air. Illnesses were thought to be caused by an imbalance in the humors within the body, as were defects in personality, and some medical terminology in English still reflects these outmoded concepts. For example, too much black bile was thought to make a person gloomy, and nowadays symptoms of depression such as insomnia and lack of pleasure in enjoyable activities are described as melancholic symptoms, ultimately from the Greek word melancholia, "excess of black bile," formed from melan-, "black," and khole, "bile." The old term for the cold, clammy humor, phlegm, lives on today as the word for abnormally large accumulations of mucus in the upper respiratory tract. Another early name of yellow bile in English, choler, is related to the name of the disease cholera, which in earlier times denoted stomach disorders thought to be due to an imbalance of yellow bile. Both words are ultimately from the Greek word chole, "bile." |
Humor
a concise witticism or well-turned phrase. — Atticist, n.
1. a tendency to amuse others by tricks, jokes, unusual gestures, and strange gestures.
2. a tendency toward coarse joking. Also buffoonery. — buffoon, n. — buffoonish, adj.
2. a tendency toward coarse joking. Also buffoonery. — buffoon, n. — buffoonish, adj.
1. amusing or witty writings and remarks.
2. coarsely witty stories or books. — facetious, adj.
2. coarsely witty stories or books. — facetious, adj.
1. the habit of joking or jesting.
2. a joke or a jest.
3. the state or quality of humorousness or playfulness. — jocose, adj.
2. a joke or a jest.
3. the state or quality of humorousness or playfulness. — jocose, adj.
the condition or quality of being biting or caustic, as humor, speech, etc. See also speech. — mordant, adj.
trifles or trivia, especially light verses or sayings.
the habit of dealing with serious matters in a spirit of good and sometimes cynical good humor. [Allusion to Rabelais’ satirical novels Gargantua (1534) and Pantagruel (1532), especially to the behavior of Pantagruel, Gargantua’s huge son.] — Pantagruelian, adj.
a humorous performance at the piano, sometimes with a verbal accompaniment by the performer.
1. a person who imitates or is an enthusiast for the works of Francois Rabelais.
2. a person given to coarse, satirical humor, like that of Rabelais. — Rabelaisian, adj.
2. a person given to coarse, satirical humor, like that of Rabelais. — Rabelaisian, adj.
the personality or character of Rabelais, as in the use of coarse, satirical humor. Also Rabelaisianism.
a person skilled in the exchange of witticisms.
coarse, vulgar, or obscene language or joking. — ribald, adj.
1. a writer of satire.
2. a person who uses satire or makes satirical comments.
2. a person who uses satire or makes satirical comments.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  humor - a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughterjeu d'esprit - a witty comment or writing esprit de l'escalier - a witty remark that occurs to you too late pungency, bite - wit having a sharp and caustic quality; "he commented with typical pungency"; "the bite of satire" caustic remark, irony, sarcasm, satire - witty language used to convey insults or scorn; "he used sarcasm to upset his opponent"; "irony is wasted on the stupid"; "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"--Jonathan Swift repartee - adroitness and cleverness in reply gag, jape, jest, joke, laugh - a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter; "he told a very funny joke"; "he knows a million gags"; "thanks for the laugh"; "he laughed unpleasantly at his own jest"; "even a schoolboy's jape is supposed to have some ascertainable point" caricature, impersonation, imitation - a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect fun, sport, play - verbal wit or mockery (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously); "he became a figure of fun"; "he said it in sport" ribaldry - ribald humor topper - an exceedingly good witticism that surpasses all that have gone before libation - (facetious) a serving of an alcoholic beverage roaster - a harsh or humorous critic (sometimes intended as a facetious compliment); "the honoree gave his roasters as good as he got" |
| 2. | humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" playfulness, fun - a disposition to find (or make) causes for amusement; "her playfulness surprised me"; "he was fun to be with" | |
| 3. |  humor - a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; "whether he praised or cursed me depended on his temper at the time"; "he was in a bad humor"feeling - the experiencing of affective and emotional states; "she had a feeling of euphoria"; "he had terrible feelings of guilt"; "I disliked him and the feeling was mutual" peeve - an annoyed or irritated mood | |
| 4. | humor - the quality of being funny; "I fail to see the humor in it" quality - an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare comicality - the quality of being comical | |
| 5. | humor - (Middle Ages) one of the four fluids in the body whose balance was believed to determine your emotional and physical state; "the humors are blood and phlegm and yellow and black bile" body substance - the substance of the body physiology - the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms antiquity - the historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe Dark Ages, Middle Ages - the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance | |
| 6. | humor - the liquid parts of the body body substance - the substance of the body aqueous humor, aqueous humour - the limpid fluid within the eyeball between the cornea and the lens vitreous body, vitreous humor, vitreous humour - the clear colorless transparent jelly that fills the posterior chamber of the eyeball endolymph - the bodily fluid that fills the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear perilymph - the bodily fluid that fills the space between the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear ECF, extracellular fluid - liquid containing proteins and electrolytes including the liquid in blood plasma and interstitial fluid; "the body normally has about 15 quarts of extracellular fluid" intracellular fluid - liquid contained inside the cell membranes (usually containing dissolved solutes) karyolymph - a clear liquid in the cell nucleus in which the nucleolus and chromatin and other structures are dispersed milk - produced by mammary glands of female mammals for feeding their young amnionic fluid, amniotic fluid, waters - the serous fluid in which the embryo is suspended inside the amnion; "before a woman gives birth her waters break" blood - the fluid (red in vertebrates) that is pumped through the body by the heart and contains plasma, blood cells, and platelets; "blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and carries away waste products"; "the ancients believed that blood was the seat of the emotions" blood serum, serum - an amber, watery fluid, rich in proteins, that separates out when blood coagulates chyle - a milky fluid consisting of lymph and emulsified fats; formed in the small intestine during digestion of ingested fats lymph - a thin coagulable fluid (similar to plasma but) containing white blood cells (lymphocytes) and chyle; is conveyed to the blood stream by lymphatic vessels come, cum, ejaculate, semen, seminal fluid, seed - the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract ink - dark protective fluid ejected into the water by cuttlefish and other cephalopods secretion - a functionally specialized substance (especially one that is not a waste) released from a gland or cell black bile, melancholy - a humor that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy yellow bile, choler - a humor that was once believed to be secreted by the liver and to cause irritability and anger lochia - substance discharged from the vagina (cellular debris and mucus and blood) that gradually decreases in amount during the weeks following childbirth cerebrospinal fluid, spinal fluid - clear liquid produced in the ventricles of the brain; fills and protects cavities in the brain and spinal cord | |
| Verb | 1. | humor - put into a good mood |
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|