unhumorous

adjective

Definition of unhumorousnext
as in uncomic

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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 unhumorous Unlike Dickens, to whom he was sometimes compared, Balzac didn’t care for or about children, and was essentially unhumorous. — Elif Batuman, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unhumorous
  1. humorless
  2. lame
  3. earnest
  4. serious
  5. unfunny
  6. unamusing
  7. somber
  8. tragic
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
  • Post-election powers Keisha Lance Bottoms has a message for Republicans who might be tempted to limit her powers in a lame-duck special session if the Democrat wins the race for governor in November.
    — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • President John Adams, after losing his 1800 reëlection bid, used his lame-duck period to fill the judiciary with sympathizers.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of lame
Adjective
  • Amid a national cinema that has become internationally recognized for perverse plotting and deadpan absurdism, writer-director Alexis Alexiou‘s third feature stands out for its stark storytelling and earnest emotional intensity.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 30 Aug. 2026
  • But there’s also a subtle rejection of the earnest wokeness of years past.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of earnest
Adjective
  • Wearing something slightly more playful also helped keep the whole day from feeling too serious or dramatic.
    — Elly Leavitt, Vogue, 2 Sep. 2026
  • But then Sandy stops by for a friendly chat, and his daughter Nina (Zosia Mamet, ice-cold and slightly underused) gets serious.
    — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of serious
Adjective
  • The punchline became a very unfunny one when the Wehrmacht launched its blitzkrieg campaign in May, overrunning Belgium and the Netherlands in a matter of days.
    — David Szondy August 30, New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Comedy capers like this usually deflate in the third act when their pleasures get punctured by unfunny gunfire.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of unfunny
Adjective
  • 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
Definition of unamusing
Adjective
  • Davis was much more somber, and his attorney, Wayne Higgins, is heard frequently admonishing his client for volunteering unnecessary information.
    — Taylor Romine, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Bookended by drone shots of the Macedonian countryside and a somber cello refrain by Novogradska, this 86-minute doc is otherwise composed of scoreless interviews with subjects seated in front of black curtains and captured in medium range.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of somber
Adjective
  • Our thoughts remain with everyone affected by this tragic event.
    — James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Deep in the Pyrenees mountains, a young man, Miquel, struggles in the wake of his mother’s death in a snowstorm — a tragic event that was at the center of Tóibín’s 2006 novella, A Long Winter.
    — Mary Lawrence Ware, semafor.com, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of tragic

Browse Nearby Words

unhooks
unhumorous
unhurried
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unhumorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhumorous. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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