humour

American  

[hyoo-mer] / ˈhju mər /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. humor.

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humour British  

/ ˈhjuːmə /

noun

1. the quality of being funny

2. Also called: sense of humour. the ability to appreciate or express that which is humorous

3. situations, speech, or writings that are thought to be humorous

4. 1. a state of mind; temper; mood

   2. ( in combination )

      ill humour

      good humour

5. temperament or disposition

6. a caprice or whim

7. any of various fluids in the body, esp the aqueous humour and vitreous humour

8. Also called: cardinal humour. archaic any of the four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, choler or yellow bile, melancholy or black bile) formerly thought to determine emotional and physical disposition

9. in a bad mood

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verb

1. to attempt to gratify; indulge

   he humoured the boy's whims

2. to adapt oneself to

   to humour someone's fantasies

Spelling

See -or ¹.

Other Word Forms

• humourlessness
  noun
• humourful
  adjective
• humourless
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of humour

C14: from Latin humor liquid; related to Latin ūmēre to be wet, Old Norse vökr moist, Greek hugros wet

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

humour

What might now be termed toxic masculinity was often deemed funny, seen by some as good old-fashioned male humour.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

But Rooney's plain-speaking and sense of humour through the tournament had connected with viewers.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Were the media companies who embraced him, the comedy venues who promoted him, the audiences who laughed at his humour, in some way complicit?

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

For all of his flippant humour, Blunt's demons are real.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

Maybe he and Percy did share something else - a stupid sense of humour.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

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