Meaning of 幽默
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (loanword) humor
- humorous
How to use 幽默
幽默 works as an adjective for people or speech, often with 很 or 有 in front, as in 很幽默 or 有幽默感 (yǒu yōumògǎn, to have a sense of humor). Example: 他说话很幽默。(Tā shuōhuà hěn yōumò.) He speaks with a lot of humor.
幽默 (yōumò) is a loanword chosen to sound like English "humor." Think of 幽 (yōu, quiet, hidden) plus 默 (mò, silent), as if good humor is quiet and sly, the kind that sneaks up on you.
Common mistake: Learners often use 幽默 to mean "funny" in the sense of silly or ridiculous, but it means witty and clever. For something laughable or amusing in a simple way, 好笑 (hǎoxiào) or 搞笑 (gǎoxiào) is usually better. Also keep the first tone on 幽 (yōu), not yóu.
幽默 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
幽 yōu · quiet · 9 strokes
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默 mò · silent · 16 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 幽默.
| 沉默 | chénmò | taciturn; uncommunicative |
| 默默 | mòmò | in silence; not speaking |
| 默契 | mòqì | tacit understanding; unwritten agreement; rapport |
| 默默无闻 | mòmò-wúwén | (idiom) unknown; unrenowned |
| 默读 | mòdú | to read in silence |
| 潜移默化 | qiányí-mòhuà | imperceptible influence; to influence secretly |
| 幽灵 | yōulíng | specter; apparition |
| 幽默感 | yōumògǎn | sense of humor |
| 幽会 | yōuhuì | (usually of lovers) to rendezvous in secret |
| 缄默 | jiānmò | to keep silent |
| 静默 | jìngmò | silent; still; quiet; to mourn in silence; to observe silence |
| 默认 | mòrèn | to agree tacitly; tacit approval |
Questions about 幽默
What does 幽默 mean?
幽默 (yōumò) means "(loanword) humor; humorous" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 幽默?
幽默 is made of 2 characters: 幽 (9 strokes), 默 (16 strokes). That is 25 strokes in total.
Is 幽默 an HSK word?
Yes. 幽默 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 默 in 幽默 mean silent like in 沉默?
The character is the same one found in 沉默 (chénmò) and 默默 (mòmò), where it means silent. In 幽默 it was mainly picked for its sound to match "humor," so the whole word does not mean silent.
How do I say someone has a good sense of humor?
Say 他很有幽默感 (tā hěn yǒu yōumògǎn), using 幽默感, sense of humor. You can also simply say 他很幽默 (tā hěn yōumò).