humor: Meaning and Definition of

hu•mor

Pronunciation: (hy'mur or, often, y'-), [key]
— n.
  1. a comic, absurd, or incongruous quality causing amusement: the humor of a situation.
  2. the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical: He is completely without humor.
  3. an instance of being or attempting to be comical or amusing; something humorous: The humor in his joke eluded the audience.
  4. the faculty of expressing the amusing or comical: The author's humor came across better in the book than in the movie.
  5. comical writing or talk in general; comical books, skits, plays, etc.
  6. peculiar features; oddities; quirks: humors of life.
  7. mental disposition or temperament.
  8. a temporary mood or frame of mind: The boss is in a bad humor today.
  9. a capricious or freakish inclination; whim or caprice; odd trait.
  10. (in medieval physiology) one of the four elemental fluids of the body, blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, regarded as determining, by their relative proportions, a person's physical and mental constitution.
  11. any animal or plant fluid, whether natural or morbid, as the blood or lymph.
  12. displeased; dissatisfied; cross: The chef is feeling out of humor again and will have to be treated carefully.
—v.t.
  1. to comply with the humor or mood of in order to soothe or make content or more agreeable: to humor a child.
  2. to adapt or accommodate oneself to.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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