humorous
1 Americanadjective
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funny; comical; amusing
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displaying or creating humour
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archaic another word for capricious
Related Words
Humorous, witty, facetious, waggish imply something that arises from cleverness or a sense of fun. Humorous implies a genuine sense of fun and the comic, impersonal, or gently personal: a humorous version of an incident; a humorous view of life. Witty implies quickness to perceive the amusing, striking, or unusual and to express it cleverly and entertainingly; it sometimes becomes rather sharp and unkind, particularly in quick repartee of a personal nature: a witty and interesting companion; to be witty at someone else's expense. Facetious suggests a desire or attempt to be jocular or witty but not to be taken seriously: a facetious remark. Waggish suggests the spirit of sly mischief and roguery of the constant joker, with no harm intended: a waggish good humor.
Other Word Forms
- humorously adverb
- humorousness noun
Etymology
Origin of humorous1
First recorded in 1570–80; humor + -ous
Origin of humorous2
1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin ( h ) ūmōrōsus; humor, -ous
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.
The online blurb says the book is a "darkly humorous novel that uses the deftest touch to draw a thread through the lives of Welsh farmers, city accountants, Indian hoteliers and Eisteddfod mums".
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
Participants also thought the brand was most confident and humorous when it embraced the negative phrase.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Many of their playful clips and humorous commentary went viral and was especially appealing to younger viewers.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2026
An Italian doctors' association on Friday praised US ski star Lindsey Vonn's sister for recognising the "beauty" of Italian emergency room medical staff after she posted some humorous advice on social media.
From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026
“There’s corned beef so you can make sandwiches for lunch,” Aunty Uju had said, as though those words were perfectly normal and did not require a humorous preamble about how Americans ate bread for lunch.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
