Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Devoid of gladness and gaiety.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Without mirth or hilarity; joyless.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Without mirth.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Lacking mirth; devoid of joy.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective lacking mirth

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From mirth + -less.

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Examples

  • Fenn laughed what novelists are fond of calling a mirthless laugh.

    The Head of Kay's 1928

  • Frank Rich of the New York Times called the comedian's performance "mirthless"

    Jerry Weissman: Obama and Comedy 2010

  • Frank Rich of the New York Times called the comedian's performance "mirthless"

    Jerry Weissman: Obama and Comedy 2010

  • It was not boisterous; indeed, it was consciously refined, -- mirthless, meaningless.

    Youth and the Bright Medusa 1920

  • It was not boisterous; indeed, it was consciously refined, -- mirthless, meaningless.

    Youth and the Bright Medusa Willa Sibert Cather 1910

  • Often, during the last few days, he had told himself, with a kind of mirthless chuckle, that _he_ was not going to be

    From out the Vasty Deep Marie Belloc Lowndes 1907

  • (Christian Slater, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall), but this time around the script and animation have resulted in a "mirthless," "underimagined" and "strenuously unfunny" movie, according to Variety.

    Taipei Times 2008

  • (Christian Slater, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall), but this time around the script and animation have resulted in a "mirthless," "underimagined" and "strenuously unfunny" movie, according to Variety.

    Taipei Times 2008

  • (Christian Slater, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall), but this time around the script and animation have resulted in a "mirthless," "underimagined" and "strenuously unfunny" movie, according to Variety.

    Taipei Times 2008

  • (Christian Slater, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall), but this time around the script and animation have resulted in a "mirthless," "underimagined" and "strenuously unfunny" movie, according to Variety.

    Taipei Times 2008

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