Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

humoresque

American  
[hyoo-muh-resk, yoo-] / ˌhju məˈrɛsk, ˌju- /

noun

  1. a musical composition of humorous or capricious character.


humoresque British  
/ ˌhjuːməˈrɛsk /

noun

  1. a short lively piece of music

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of humoresque

1875–80; humor + -esque, modeled on German Humoreske

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The film's two main characters retain their sanity the way men have always done in the shadow of death, with a gallows humoresque.

From Time Magazine Archive

She was Fashion's humoresque, except that Fashion has no sense of humor.

From Humoresque A Laugh on Life with a Tear Behind It by Fannie Hurst

But think of a lively and humoresque clock that does not tick and takes only an hour to record a day.

From The Art of the Moving Picture by Vachel Lindsay

He sat down in the evening to that old Russian merchant trader's piano, in our headquarters, and rambled from chords and airs to humoresque and rhapsodies.

From The History of the American Expedition Fighting the Bolsheviki Campaigning in North Russia 1918-1919 by Lewis E. Jahns

Heine's "Des Waldes Kapellmeister" has been made into a most hilarious humoresque.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Rupert Hughes

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training