humourless

/ˈhjuːmələs/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈhjuːmərləs/ (ame, ipa)

humourless — adjective

  • humourlesspositive
  • more humourlesscomparative
  • most humourlesssuperlative

1. describes a person, comment, or situation that shows no sense of fun or amusemen

1.形容詞B2
釋義

describes a person, comment, or situation that shows no sense of fun or amusement — for example, someone who never laughs at jokes or a discussion that takes itself too seriously.

例句

Priya's humourless manager never laughed at anyone's jokes during team meetings.

collocation: humourless manager / humourless tone

The film review was humourless and took every joke far too seriously.

同義詞
  • serious

    neutral; does not imply criticism, whereas 'humourless' is almost always negative

  • solemn

    more formal; suggests dignified seriousness rather than an unfriendly lack of humour

  • dour

    stronger negative tone; implies a stern, unfriendly manner

  • grim

    suggests a forbidding or gloomy seriousness, often about a specific situation rather than a personality trait

反義詞
  • humorous

    direct opposite; describes someone who enjoys or makes jokes

  • witty

    focuses on the ability to make clever, funny remarks

  • amusing

    describes something that causes laughter, not necessarily a personality trait

文法句型

humourless + noun

be + humourless

find + noun + humourless

用法筆記

Almost always carries a mildly negative judgement, implying that the person is overly serious in a way that makes social interactions uncomfortable. Stronger in tone than 'serious' or 'reserved'.

常見錯誤

❌The doctor had a humourless expression when giving the diagnosis.
✅The doctor had a serious expression when giving the diagnosis.
💡'humourless' criticises someone's inability to appreciate fun; it does not describe appropriate gravity in a serious situation.