humor

be out of humour

To be in an irritable, grouchy, or unhappy mood; to feel unwell, displeased, or in poor spirits. Primarily heard in UK. I think something is bugging John because he's been rather out of humour lately. I think you should get to bed earlier because you're always so out of humour in the morning.
See also: humour, of, out

be put out of humour

old-fashioned To be put in an irritable, grouchy, or unhappy mood; to be made to feel unwell, displeased, or in poor spirits. Primarily heard in UK. I must say, I was put quite out of humour to have been reprimanded like that in front of my colleagues. My wife is always being put out of humour by the cold weather in this part of the country.
See also: humour, of, out, put

feel out of humour

To be in an irritable, grouchy, or unhappy mood; to feel unwell, displeased, or in poor spirits. Primarily heard in UK. I felt out of humour for nearly a week after my manuscript got rejected by the publisher. I think you should get to bed earlier because you always wake up feeling so out of humour in the morning.
See also: feel, humour, of, out

gallows humor

Humor that aims to make grim subjects, like death, funny or comical. (A "gallows" is the wooden frame from which criminals were traditionally hanged.) A: "Why would he say a morbid thing like that?" B: "Oh, that's just how Uncle Ned is—he's prone to gallows humor."
See also: humor

humor equals tragedy plus time

cliché Anything tragic, difficult, or uncomfortable can be made the subject of humor if enough time has passed. My marriage was an absolute nightmare for five years of my life. Thankfully, I'm at a point now where I can well and truly laugh about it. I guess it's true that humor equals tragedy plus time. They say that humor equals tragedy plus time, but I just can't laugh at jokes about such a horrible incident in human history.
See also: equal, humor, plus, time, tragedy

locker-room humor

Especially crude, vulgar, or bawdy humor. I'm no prude by any means, but I hate the locker-room humor my boyfriend partakes in when his buddies are around.
See also: humor

out of humour

In an irritable, grouchy, or unhappy mood; not feeling well or in good spirits. Primarily heard in UK. I think something is bugging John because he's been rather out of humour lately. After living in Gibraltar for so long, these awful London winters leave me feeling me out of humour.
See also: humour, of, out

out of sorts

In an irritable, grouchy, or unhappy mood; not feeling well or in good spirits. I think something is bugging John, because he's been rather out of sorts lately. After living in Florida for so long, these awful Minnesota winters leave me feeling out of sorts.
See also: of, out, sort

put (one) out of humour

old-fashioned To put one in an irritable, grouchy, or unhappy mood; to make one feel unwell, displeased, or in poor spirits. Primarily heard in UK. Having lived in Gibraltar for most of my life, where the weather remains temperate throughout the year, I must say that these awful London winters put me quite out of humour. It always puts me out of humour to think about the state of our country's political system for too long.
See also: humour, of, out, put

schoolboy humor

Immature humor. Guys, enough with the schoolboy humor. Let's try to act like adults, please.
See also: humor, schoolboy

sense of humor

1. An ability to enjoy or say things that are funny. My dad had an amazing sense of humor. He'd always have us in stitches whenever he started telling one of his stories! I was just joking, for crying out loud! Don't you have a sense of humor?
2. The part of one's personality that determines what specifically one considers to be funny or appreciates as humorous. I've got a pretty weird sense of humor, so bizarre comedies like these are right up my alley. Slapstick has never really fit with my sense of humor.
See also: humor, of, sense

toilet humor

A type of humor focused on bodily functions, such as urination and defecation. Grandma hates that toilet humor, guys, so please lay off it while she's here.
See also: humor, toilet
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*out of sorts

not feeling well; grumpy and irritable. (*Typically: be ~; feel ~; get ~.) I've been out of sorts for a day or two. I think I'm coming down with something. The baby is out of sorts. Maybe she's getting a new tooth.
See also: of, out, sort

sense of humor

the ability to appreciate good humor and jokes; the ability to create jokes and say funny things. Does he have a sense of humor? He looks like he has never laughed in his life.
See also: humor, of, sense
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

out of sorts

Irritable, grouchy, as in Don't ask him today-he's out of sorts. This expression also implies that one's poor spirits result from feeling slightly ill. [Early 1600s] The synonym out of humor, on the other hand, used more in Britain than America, simply means "ill-tempered" or "irritable." [Mid-1600s]
See also: of, out, sort
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

out of sorts

BRITISH
If you are out of sorts, you feel slightly unwell, upset, or annoyed. He returned to his motel room feeling ill-tempered and out of sorts.
See also: of, out, sort
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

out of sorts

1 slightly unwell. 2 in low spirits; irritable.
See also: of, out, sort
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

out of humor

In a bad mood; irritable.
See also: humor, of, out

out of sorts

1. Slightly ill.
2. Irritable; cross: The teacher is out of sorts this morning.
See also: of, out, sort
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

gallows humor

Grim ironical humor about a serious subject. The term dates from the late 1800s and alludes to joking about being taken to the gallows and hanged. When President Barack Obama was asked why he laughed when talking about the bad state of the world economy, he replied, with a laugh, “There’s gotta be a little gallows humor to get you through the day” (Sixty Minutes, March 22, 2009).
See also: humor
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • be out of humour
  • humour
  • feel out of sorts
  • be out of sorts
  • be, feel, etc. out of sorts
  • feel out of humour
  • be put out of humour
  • out of humor
  • out of humour
  • put (one) out of sorts
References in periodicals archive
Humor, merry making polishes your inner sentiments leading to blooming growth of young tissues.
Effect of Humor Orientation of the Principal on Teachers' Performance at Secondary School Level in Punjab
Critique: Humor That Works: The Missing Skill for Success and Happiness at Work is a business guide to a secret that few workplace consultants will mention--humor is a powerful tool for improving quality of work life, relieving stress, and increasing productivity.
Humor That Works
* hipoteza 2--nauczyciele w mniejszym stopniu radza sobie ze stresem przez humor,
TEACHERS' HUMOR AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE--THE MEDIATING ROLE OF THE SENSE OF STRESS AT WORK/HUMOR NAUCZYCIELI I JEGO ZWIAZKI Z PRZEWLEKLYM ZMECZENIEM--MEDIACYJNA ROLA POCZUCIA STRESU W PRACY
And when it comes to humor, the people who study it -- sometimes until all laughs are beaten out of it -- say context is key.
No AI in humor
As a teacher, when you use humor in the classroom, it makes you more likeable and approchable by students and it's easy, noted an article by SmartClassroom Management.com.
April Is National Humor Month
Tendo no horizonte um debate semelhante, mas focando no Brasil, o artigo de Cintia Lima Crescencio, As mulheres ou os silencios do humor: uma analise da presenca de mulheres no humor grafico brasileiro (1968-2011), aborda, a partir de coletaneas de humor grafico e quadrinhos no Brasil, os silencios acerca da producao de mulheres em obras que prometem vastos levantamentos de cartunistas, chargistas, caricaturistas e quadrinistas do cenario nacional.
APRESENTACAO DO DOSSIE: O HUMOR DAS MULHERES E AS MULHERES NO HUMOR: FEMINISMOS, RISO E ARTE
The first section of the book examines claims about the liberatory political function of humor (through analysis of events such as The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear) and challenges the many celebratory accounts in literature.
Humour as Politics: The Political Aesthetics of Contemporary Comedy
"In particular," says lead study author Jorge Torres-Marin, "we have observed that a greater tendency to employ self-defeating humor is indicative of high scores in psychological well-being dimensions such as happiness and [...] sociability."
How making fun of yourself can make you happy
"The idea that humor is a signal of intelligence doesn't give humor its due credit.
Ditch Pickup Lines and Polish Up Punchlines
El objetivo de esta investigacion ha estado centrado en el analisis de la relacion de los diferentes estilos de humor (afiliativo, de automejora, agresivo y autoagresivo), con los afectos (positivo y negativo) y la personalidad del individuo.
Sense of Humor, Affect, and Personality. A Study of University Students/ Sentido de humor, afetos e personalidade. Estudo em estudantes universitarios/ Sentido del humor, afectos y personalidad. Estudio en estudiantes universitarios
Humor can be considered as a charming, yet paradoxical counterpart of logos, supplementing the one-sidedness of a strictly discursive cognitive approach and allowing for the perception of phenomena in multifarious and contradictory planes of reference'
The best medicine? The nature of humour and its significance for the process of psychotherapy
So much is this sensitivity that political correctness has trickled down to the arena of humans' coping mechanism: humor.
The art of 'char'
Long before brain imaging technologies like MRI, psychologists and other scientists wondered what makes things funny, why we laugh, and why some people seem to have a better sense of humor than others.
This Is Your Brain On Humor
Researchers have discovered that humor is attractive not just in romantic partners, but in business partners and politicians as well because it is a sign of cognitive fitness.
Funny business: use humor to foster a positive work environment
The current study was envisioned to assess the relationship between perceived stress and numerous factors of sense of humor among undergraduate university medical students.
Impact of Sense of Humor on Perceived Stress among Undergraduate Medical Students: A Gendered Perspective