as in solemn
not joking or playful in mood or manner
humorless people who can't see the lighter side of life
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of humorless
His Rick Honeycutt is utterly humorless, but the movie isn’t; there are plenty of laughs in pitting his deadpan impatience — conveyed by an unsmiling mouth under a push-broom mustache — against the idiot confidence of Billy Crudup’s man-child entrepreneur.
—
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Another criticism was Dragon generally had a depressive and humorless vibe (Martin’s books do not, and are full of dark humor, as was Thrones).
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Aug. 2024
Instead, Covell’s darkly funny saga is a fantastical/modern-day mashup that ranges between Zeus’ resplendent palace on Mount Olympus and the Underworld, which is envisioned as a Kafkaesque nightmare crawling with humorless civil servants.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 11 Aug. 2024
Instead of grasping the seriousness of conquest and resistance as experienced in human history, Snyder makes everything — such as farmers without machines or munitions fighting marauders with space weapons — into a humorless Heavy Metal cartoon.
—Armond White, National Review, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for humorless 
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Another criticism was Dragon generally had a depressive and humorless vibe (Martin’s books do not, and are full of dark humor, as was Thrones).
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Aug. 2024
Instead, Covell’s darkly funny saga is a fantastical/modern-day mashup that ranges between Zeus’ resplendent palace on Mount Olympus and the Underworld, which is envisioned as a Kafkaesque nightmare crawling with humorless civil servants.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 11 Aug. 2024
Instead of grasping the seriousness of conquest and resistance as experienced in human history, Snyder makes everything — such as farmers without machines or munitions fighting marauders with space weapons — into a humorless Heavy Metal cartoon.
—Armond White, National Review, 7 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for humorless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for humorless
Adjective
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And their CEOs announced these promises with solemn rhetoric about their companies' roles in fixing societal problems.—
Maria Aspan,
NPR,
3 Feb. 2025
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The Oscars were not scheduled until the following March, but the ceremony still took on a solemn tone.—
Michael Schulman,
The New Yorker,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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For years, though, the independent federal agency took serious enforcement actions, which were spurred by consumer complaints and investigative reports.—
Susan Tompor,
USA TODAY,
18 Feb. 2025
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Monday's crash is the fifth serious aviation incident since late January, including the crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C., between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane that left 67 dead.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
18 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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As Kirsten Cohen’s stern taskmaster of a father, Alan Dale was only supposed to have a brief appearance on The O.C.—
Sezin Devi Koehler,
EW.com,
8 Feb. 2025
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Sterling was all smiles for the photo, but the same couldn’t be said for Bronze, who gave the camera a stern look.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The men, terse, unsmiling, and unfailingly polite, keep them under siege for days.—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
30 Jan. 2025
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After two years of being locked up and systematically abused by Arkham’s squad of guards led by Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson), Arthur has become an unsmiling, even more gaunt shell of his former self.—
Charles Pulliam-Moore,
The Verge,
4 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Binaural Cafe is a vinyl listening lounge and coffeehouse with an earnest, artsy vibe.—
Freda Moon,
New York Times,
13 Feb. 2025
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For a decade or more, many of us in the trade union movement have shouted earnest warnings from the rooftops that the Democrats were losing ground with everyday Americans.—
John Samuelsen,
New York Daily News,
11 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Humorless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/humorless. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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