unfunnyadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈfʌni/, U.S. /ˌənˈfəni/ (un- prefix1 1.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > not witty or humorous
unwitty1637
witless1753
inficete1830
unfacetious1831
jokeless1844
unfunny1858
unhumorous1881
1858 T. J. Hogg Life Shelley I. 318 The application was..‘haud illepidum’, not unfunny.
1892 Nation (N.Y.) 30 June 489/1 It is most lugubriously unfunny.
Derivatives
unˈfunnily adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adverb] > in unwitty or inhumorous manner
unwittily1661
inhumorously1898
unfunnily1963
1963 V. Nabokov Gift iv. 221 A student who unfunnily plays the fool.
1973 Daily Tel. 16 Mar. 14/4 The amiable progress began..at Harwich, which Mr Cutforth..unfunnily commended for being pleasant and rather empty.
unˈfunniness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > state or quality of being wearisome or tedious > lacking wittiness or humour
unfunniness1927
1927 Daily Mirror 10 Dec. 4/1 I saw quite a lot of Mark Twain, and my chief astonishment was his regular unfunniness.
1958 N. Marsh Singing in Shrouds (1959) viii. 160 Could he hit quite such an all-time-low for unfunniness, do you suppose?
1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 Nov. 1342/5 For me, it had all the wearisome unfunniness of back numbers of Punch perused in the dentist's waiting-room.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1858