humourous

«humourous» in Mova's school dictionary: a common misspelling of «humorous», which means funny or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (humourous) — a misspelling of «humorous»

meaning for a pupil

1) «Humourous» is a common misspelling of «humorous», which means funny or meant to make people laugh. tree →

2) Some writers use «humourous» by mistake because the UK noun is «humour» with a «u». tree →

sense in the lessons

In spelling lessons it is a classic trap: in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland the noun is «humour», but the adjective drops the «u» and is «humorous» everywhere, also in the USA. The meaning, when used, is just «funny». Phrases you will see are really «a humorous story», «humorous poem».

examples

• The correct spelling is «humorous», not «humourous». tree →
• She wrote a humorous poem about her cat. tree →
• My teacher circled «humourous» in red and wrote «humorous». tree →
• British English has «humour», but still «humorous». tree →
• The film was humorous and kind. tree →
• A humorous speech makes the audience laugh. tree →

note

Not standard English: use «humorous» (UK, USA, Canada, Australia all agree). Same pattern: «vigour» but «vigorous», «glamour» but «glamorous», «labour» but «laborious». A spell checker will mark «humourous» as wrong.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «humourous» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.