humor
Definitions
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WordNet 3.6
- v humor put into a good mood
- n 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"
- n humor the quality of being funny "I fail to see the humor in it"
- n humor the liquid parts of the body
- n 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"
- n humor a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
- n 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"
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Interesting fact: In Nicholas County, W. Va., no member of the clergy is allowed to tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit during a church service.
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- Humor (Med) A vitiated or morbid animal fluid, such as often causes an eruption on the skin. "A body full of humors ."
- Humor Changing and uncertain states of mind; caprices; freaks; vagaries; whims. "Is my friend all perfection, all virtue and discretion? Has he not humors to be endured?"
- Humor Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc.
- Humor State of mind, whether habitual or temporary (as formerly supposed to depend on the character or combination of the fluids of the body); disposition; temper; mood; as, good humor; ill humor.
"Examine how your humor is inclined,
And which the ruling passion of your mind.""A prince of a pleasant humor .""I like not the humor of lying." - Humor That quality of the imagination which gives to ideas an incongruous or fantastic turn, and tends to excite laughter or mirth by ludicrous images or representations; a playful fancy; facetiousness. "For thy sake I admit
That a Scot may have humor , I'd almost said wit.""A great deal of excellent humor was expended on the perplexities of mine host." - Humor To comply with the humor of; to adjust matters so as suit the peculiarities, caprices, or exigencies of; to adapt one's self to; to indulge by skillful adaptation; as, to humor the mind. "It is my part to invent, and the musician's to humor that invention."
- Humor To help on by indulgence or compliant treatment; to soothe; to gratify; to please. "You humor me when I am sick."
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
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Interesting fact: Donald F. Duncan, the man who made the yo-yo an American tradition, is also credited with popularizing the parking meter and introducing Good Humor "ice cream on a stick.
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- n humor Moisture; an exhalation.
- n humor An animal fluid, whether natural or morbid; now, especially, any of the thinner bodily fluids, limpid, serous, or sanious, as the constituent fluids or semi-fluids of the eye, or the watery matter in some cutaneous eruptions. The four cardinal humors of ancient physicians were the blood, choler (yellow bile), phlegm, and melancholy (black bile), regarded by them as determining, by their conditions and proportions, a person's physical and mental qualities and disposition. See temperament.
- n humor Hence One's special condition of mind or quality of feeling; peculiarity of disposition, permanent or temporary; mental state; mood: as, a surly humor; a strange humor.
- n humor Specifically— Disposition, especially a capricious disposition; freak; whim; vagary; oddness of mood or manners: in this sense very fashionable in the time of Shakspere.
- n humor A facetious or jocular turn of mind, as in conversation; the disposition to find, or the faculty of finding, ludicrous aspects or suggestions in common facts or notions.
- n humor In lit., witty, droll, or jocose imagination, conspicuous in thought and expression, and tending to excite amusement; that quality in composition which is characterized by the predominance of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous in the choice or treatment of a theme: distinguished from wit, which implies superior subtlety and finer thought. Humor in literature may be further distinguished by its humane and sympathetic quality, by force of which it is often found blending the pathetic with the ludicrous, and by the same stroke moving to tears and laughter, in this respect improving upon the pure and often cold intellectuality which is the essence of wit.
- n humor See the adjectives.
- n humor Fancy, whimsey, crotchet, fad.
- n humor and.
- n humor Wit, Humor (see wit); pleasantry, jocoseness, facetiousness, jocularity.
- humor To comply with the humor, fancy, or disposition of; soothe by compliance; indulge; gratify.
- humor To endeavor to comply with the peculiarities or exigencies of; adapt one's self to; suit or accommodate: as, to humor one's part or the piece.
- humor Synonyms Indulge, etc. See gratify.
- humor To give a slight direction or turn to (a fly, in fishing, or the like).
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Quotations
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“The secret to humor is surprise.” -
“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs-jolted by every pebble in the road.” -
“People of humor are always in some degree people of genius.” -
“I could not tread these perilous paths in safety, if I did not keep a saving sense of humor.” -
“As a person is so must you humor them.”
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“Humor -- the perfect relationship of the parts to the whole.”
Etymology
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid
Usage
In literature:
But her master was in an ill humor, and he responded to her questions with brief words.
"The Dead Command" by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
Our brief journey through the realm of love and humor must certainly convince us that in sunny days humor rarely, love never, forsook Israel.
"Jewish Literature and Other Essays" by Gustav Karpeles
THE HUMORS OF ELECTION.
"The Art of Disappearing" by John Talbot Smith
On this rainy October evening, tea was dispatched in the gayest humor in the little Bartlett dining-room.
"Otherwise Phyllis" by Meredith Nicholson
We own that the humor of Addison is, in our opinion, of a more delicious flavor than the humor of either Swift or Voltaire.
"Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3)" by Thomas Babington Macaulay
The humor of Mrs. Poyser and the wit of Mrs. Transome only deepen the pathos by relieving it.
"The Essays of "George Eliot" Complete" by George Eliot
The Russians have little or no humor, though they are not deficient in a certain grotesque savagery bordering on the humorous.
"The Land of Thor" by J. Ross Browne
Most men had humors that must be respected, and Dick's father had his.
"Not Like Other Girls" by Rosa N. Carey
HUMOR OF LITERARY ENGLISHWOMEN.
"The Wit of Women" by Kate Sanborn
As a business proposition, our venture's humorous.
"Partners of the Out-Trail" by Harold Bindloss
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In poetry:
Twas morn, and, wending on its way,
Beside my path a stream was playing;
And down its banks, in humor gay,
A thoughtless boy was idly straying.
Beside my path a stream was playing;
And down its banks, in humor gay,
A thoughtless boy was idly straying.
"The Bubble Chase" by Samuel Griswold Goodrich
To see how all the Graces sought grace here,
And in what meeke, yet princely sort she came;
How this most noble Lady did imbrace her,
And all humors vnto hers did frame.
And in what meeke, yet princely sort she came;
How this most noble Lady did imbrace her,
And all humors vnto hers did frame.
"The Authors Dreame To The Ladie Marie" by Aemilia Lanyer
Now their light far-flinging
We see flashing, swinging,
Sparks as from your father's humor springing;
Now there meets us nigher,
Mirroring the higher,
Mother's eye of softer fire.
We see flashing, swinging,
Sparks as from your father's humor springing;
Now there meets us nigher,
Mirroring the higher,
Mother's eye of softer fire.
"To Erika Lie" by Bjornstjerne Bjornson
A querulous old woman's voice
His humorous talent next employs,
He scolds, and gives the lie,
And now he sings, and now is sick,
Here, Sally, Susan, come, come quick,
Poor Poll is like to die!
His humorous talent next employs,
He scolds, and gives the lie,
And now he sings, and now is sick,
Here, Sally, Susan, come, come quick,
Poor Poll is like to die!
"The Parrot" by William Cowper
He was always willing to conduct meetings for the poor,
Also meat and clothing for them he tried to procure,
And he always had little humorous speeches at command,
And to hear him deliver them it must have been grand.
Also meat and clothing for them he tried to procure,
And he always had little humorous speeches at command,
And to hear him deliver them it must have been grand.
"General Gordon, the Hero of Khartoum" by William Topaz McGonagall
Said Brown: ""I know my wife's not witty,
Nor is she very long on looks;
She's neither humorous nor pretty,
But oh how she divinely cooks!
You guys must come some night to dinner -
You'll see my little girl's a winner."
Nor is she very long on looks;
She's neither humorous nor pretty,
But oh how she divinely cooks!
You guys must come some night to dinner -
You'll see my little girl's a winner."
"Three Wives" by Robert W Service
In news:
It is humorous that our county commissioners should entertain the idea of putting "another" landfill in Marshall County.
With his usual eloquence, patience and humor, Wilson, our modern-day Thoreau, adds his thoughts to the ongoing conversation between science and religion.
And, yes, Paul the Gorilla is there, and the silhouettes sounding out words and all the wisecracking humor.
Laura is a 23-year-old model from Ft. Half Brazilian and half Italian, this tanned beauty has curves for miles and says that her biggest turn ons are a sense of humor, sexy eyes, maturity, and a man with morals.
Half Brazilian and half Italian, this tanned beauty has curves for miles and says that her biggest turn ons are a sense of humor, sexy eyes, maturity, and a man with morals.
I used to do political humor.
He has intelligently and deftly vacuum compressed a library of comic culture into a two and a half hour movie brimming with adventure and humor.
The US premiere of Nick Payne's humor-kissed dysfunctional-family drama If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, at Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway home at the Laura Pels Theatre, will get an extra two weeks following a hiatus.
The current state of the world could only be devised by a higher power with a deep interest in toilet humor.
It was a fun program largely because of Partrick's enthusiasm and sense of humor.
Are the sanctimommies finally getting a sense of humor.
I have a great sense of humor and a quick wit.
Eminem's Lip-Sync, Hologram Humor, Radiohead's Family Hang.
Can music be humorous without the help of staging and gesture.
Raha has a penchant for lightening his doom-and-gloom reports with dry humor, and he couldn't resist quipping that he was quitting while he was ahead.
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In science:
He is devoted to his students, has a wonderful sense of humor, and is truly a pleasure to work with.
Random Surfaces
Miguel ´Angel Mu˜noz ha sido tambi´en una influencia cientf´ıfica important´ısima, con su maravillosa combinaci´on de talento y buen humor.
Interplay between Network Topology and Dynamics in Neural Systems
The humorous effect is treated as a specific malfunction in the processing of information, conditioned by the necessity of a quick deletion from consciousness of a false version.
Computer Model of a "Sense of Humour". I. General Algorithm
In the proposed scheme, the humorous effect is interpreted as a specific malfunction in the course of information processing conditioned by the necessity to delete some information transmitted to consciousness.
Computer Model of a "Sense of Humour". I. General Algorithm
The proposed model accounts for different susceptibility of people to humour, the absence of a humorous effect from a hackneyed joke, the role of timing in telling jokes, etc.
Computer Model of a "Sense of Humour". I. General Algorithm
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