HUMOR | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of humor in English humornoun, verb [ T ] uk /ˈhjuː.mər/ us /ˈhjuː.mɚ/ Add to word list Add to word list US spelling of humour Humour & humorous

• amusingly
• aphoristically
• bitingly
• blackly
• bone dry idiom
• humorous
• ludicrously
• make a joke of something idiom
• many a true word is spoken in jest idiom
• moon
• mordancy
• playful
• rib
• roast
• satire
• wisecracking
• witticism
• wittily
• wryly
• zanily

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Moods Calming and relaxing (Definition of humor from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

humor | American Dictionary

humornoun [ U ] (Cdn Br humour) us /ˈhju·mər/

humor noun [U] (AMUSEMENT)

Add to word list Add to word list the ability to be amused by something seen, heard, or thought about, sometimes causing you to smile or laugh, or the quality in something that causes such amusement: He has a wonderful sense of humor. Fortunately, she saw the humor in the situation.

humorous

adjective us /ˈhju·mər·əs/ Mark Twain was known for his humorous short sketches.

humorously

adverb us /ˈhju·mər·əs·li/ humorverb [ T ] (Cdn Br humour) us /ˈhju·mər/

humor verb [T] (AGREE WITH)

to agree to someone’s wishes in order to help improve that person’s mood or to avoid upsetting him or her: Phil seems a bit cranky today, so just humor him. (Definition of humor from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of humor

humor The gender switch produces humor, but it does not disrupt or reconfigure gender relations or hierarchies; instead, it temporarily reverses them. From the Cambridge English Corpus The vitreous humor was removed and the posterior eyecup was ever ted over a balsa wood dome and transferred to the recording chamber. From the Cambridge English Corpus Among the staff, humor and joking together provided a means of negotiating the tension around hierarchical differences. From the Cambridge English Corpus Yet the compassion and good humor with which it occurred lingered long past the event. From the Cambridge English Corpus Ethnic-based humor was still allowed - even encouraged - as long as it was not overly vicious or two-dimensional in its treatment. From the Cambridge English Corpus Finally, the didactic presentation provides a definition of humor and explores its functions. From the Cambridge English Corpus Once the most immediate demands have been addressed, humor is of ten introduced in an attempt to put people at ease. From the Cambridge English Corpus The second activity aims at highlighting the role of humor as a source of meaning. From the Cambridge English Corpus He defends + with clarity, sense, and good humor + the suggestion that there really is no such thing as incomparability of desires, values, or outcomes. From the Cambridge English Corpus In addition, the positive effects of laughter and humor at work and in general are introduced. From the Cambridge English Corpus And the humor of this group was predominantly aggressive and face-threatening. From the Cambridge English Corpus The unity of the organs is such that when one is harmed, humors from other organs flow to cure it. From the Cambridge English Corpus The content of the humor is intuitively masculine but is not examined with reference to a clearly defined continuum. From the Cambridge English Corpus After removing the vitreous humor, the posterior eyecup was ever ted over a balsawood dome and placed in a chamber. From the Cambridge English Corpus Humor is then coopted as a damage-control strategy to preserve good working relations in the face of the peremptory veto. From the Cambridge English Corpus These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of humor?

Translations of humor

in Chinese (Traditional) （humour的美式拼寫）… See more in Chinese (Simplified) （humour的美式拼写）… See more in Spanish ortografía americana de “humour”:, humor, gracia… See more in Portuguese ortografia americana de "humour":, humor, humor [masculine]… See more in Polish in Turkish in French in Norwegian -… See more mizah, komiklik, gülünçlük (yapmak)… See more humour [masculine]… See more humor [masculine]… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

hummingbird hummock hummus humongous humor humoral BETA -humored humorist humoristic {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of humor

• black humor
• aqueous humor
• gallows humor
• vitreous humor
• schoolboy humor
• humor, at humour
• aqueous humor, at aqueous humour

See all meanings

Word of the Day

forfeit

UK /ˈfɔː.fɪt/ US /ˈfɔːr.fɪt/

to decide not to play a sports game or part of a game, or to let the other side win

About this

Blog

I need to ask you a favour: signalling what we are going to say

January 21, 2026 Read More

New Words

analogue bag January 19, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI Assistant Contents EnglishAmericanExamplesTranslations AI Assistant {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
  • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
  • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
  • English–Danish Danish–English
  • English–Dutch Dutch–English
  • English–French French–English
  • English–German German–English
  • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
  • English–Italian Italian–English
  • English–Japanese Japanese–English
  • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
  • English–Polish Polish–English
  • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
  • English–Spanish Spanish–English
  • English–Swedish Swedish–English
  Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents

• English   Noun, verb
• American   
  • Noun 
    • humor (AMUSEMENT)
  • Adjective 
    • humorous
  • Adverb 
    • humorously
  • Verb 
    • humor (AGREE WITH)
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

My word lists

To add humor to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add humor to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}