humorous
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++hu·mor·ous /ˈhjuːmərəs $ ˈhjuː-, ˈjuː-/ ●●○ adjective FUNNYfunny and enjoyable 幽默的，诙谐的 humorous stories 诙谐的故事 The film has some mildly humorous moments. 那部电影中有些略显幽默的片段。► see thesaurus at funny —humorously adverb RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say something is funny rather than humorous: 在日常英语中，人们一般说funny，而不说humorousHe told lots of funny stories. 他讲了很多有趣的故事。
Examples from the Corpus
humorous• It was a brilliant speech - clear, precise and humorous.• Joyce thought this last remark was humorous.• The book is a humorous account of a young man's travels in South America.• humorous birthday cards• Dorothy was trying to make what she said humorous, but Harriet felt threatened.• The novel is a humorous but often painful odyssey through the next three decades of Dolores' life.• There's even a terrifying, bleakly humorous description of the state of Kinshasa's one nuclear reactor.• It was a half way humorous remark.• Although occasionally humorous, the work presents a bleak view of urban alienation.• There were a son and daughter of the marriage: the daughter married the humorous writer Paul Jennings.hu·mor·ous adjective →REGISTER1ChineseSyllable
and Corpus enjoyable funny
humorous
hu‧mor‧ous /ˈhjuːmərəs $ ˈhjuː-, ˈjuː-/
adjective
funny and enjoyable:
humorous stories
The film has some mildly humorous moments.
—humorously adverb
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say something is funny rather than humorous:
▪He told lots of funny stories.
▪ funny making you laugh: John told me a really funny joke. | She’s very talented and funny.
▪amusing especially written funny and enjoyable. Amusing is more formal than funny. It is often used when something is a little funny and makes you smile, rather than laugh: an amusing anecdote | He found the whole incident rather amusing.
▪humorous intended to be funny – used about stories, films, articles etc that have situations that are a little funny: humorous stories | The movie is meant to be humorous.
▪witty using words in a funny and clever way: witty remarks | How witty!
▪hilarious /hɪˈleəriəs $ -ˈler-/ (also hysterical informal) extremely funny: The children thought it was hilarious. | The movie has some hilarious scenes. | It was hysterical! You should have seen his face!
▪comical funny in a strange or silly way – often used when something is not intended to be funny: It was quite comical watching him trying to dance. | her own comical attempts at painting
▪comic [only before noun] a comic film, play, novel etc is intended to be funny: a comic drama
▪light-hearted done for amusement or enjoyment, and not intended to be serious: The programme is a light-hearted look at recent political events.
▪comedy noun [countable] a film, play, or television programme that is intended to be funny: a comedy by Shakespeare | She has appeared in several television comedies. | a new comedy series on Channel 4
hu‧mor‧ous /ˈhjuːmərəs $ ˈhjuː-, ˈjuː-/
adjectivefunny and enjoyable:
—humorously adverb
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say something is funny rather than humorous:
▪
| THESAURUS |
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
funny that makes you laugh 指好笑的、滑稽的 ：◆ a funny story 滑稽的故事 ◆ He was a very funny guy. 他这个人很滑稽。 amusing funny and enjoyable 指逗人笑的、有乐趣的、好笑的 ：◆ It's a very amusing game to play. 这种游戏玩起来非常有趣。 entertaining amusing and interesting 指有趣的、令人开心的、使人愉快的 ：◆ It was a very entertaining evening. 那是一场非常令人开心的晚会。 witty clever and amusing; able to say or write clever and amusing things 指机智的、巧妙的、妙趣横生的、言辞诙谐的 ：◆ a witty remark 机智的话 ◆ a witty public speaker 语言幽默的公开演讲人 humorous funny and entertaining; showing a sense of humour 指滑稽有趣的、有幽默感的 ：◆ a humorous look at the world of fashion 对时装界幽默的审视 comic that makes you laugh 指滑稽的、使人发笑的 ：◆ Many of the scenes in the book are richly comic. 这本书里的许多情节都非常滑稽可笑。 hilarious extremely funny 指极其滑稽的
funny, amusing, humorous or comic? 用 funny、amusing、humorous 还是 comic？
Amusing is the most general of these words because it includes the idea of being enjoyable as well as making people laugh and can be used to describe events, activities and occasions.* amusing 在这组词中最通用，既表示逗人笑，也表示好笑、有乐趣，可用以形容事情、活动和场合 ：◆ an amusing party/game/evening 充满乐趣的联欢会／游戏／晚会 ◆ a funny/humorous/comic party/game/evening Humorous is more about showing that you see the humour in a situation, than actually making people laugh out loud.Comic is used especially to talk about writing and drama or things that are funny in a deliberate and theatrical way. It is not used to describe people (except forcomic writers ).Funny can describe people, jokes and stories, things that happen, or anything that makes people laugh.* humorous 更多表示明白情景中的有趣之处，而非实际使人大笑。comic 尤指作品、戏剧、事物等故意营造的戏剧性的滑稽可笑，但不用以描述人（comic writers 除外）。funny 可形容人、笑话、故事、发生的事情以及任何使人发笑的事物。
Patterns
a(n) funny/amusing/entertaining/witty/humorous/comic story a(n) funny/amusing/entertaining/witty/humorous speech a(n) funny/entertaining/witty/humorous/comic writer a(n) funny/amusing/hilarious joke to find sth funny/amusing/entertaining/witty/humorous/hilarious