Phrase guide

black humor

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A subgenre of comedy and satire that deals with subjects that are believed to be serious or controversial, such as death, divorce, drug abuse, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, uncountable

Examples

  • Black humor is like food. Not everyone gets it.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: black comedy

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements (in writing or drama) to give a disturbing effect

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: black humour

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: expressive style, style

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: սեւ հումոր — subgenre of comedy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑色幽默 (hēisè yōumò) — subgenre of comedy
  • Czech: černý humor — subgenre of comedy
  • Danish: sort humor — subgenre of comedy
  • Finnish: musta huumori — subgenre of comedy
  • French: humour noir — subgenre of comedy
  • German: schwarzer Humor — subgenre of comedy
  • Greek: μαύρο χιούμορ (mávro chioúmor) — subgenre of comedy
  • Japanese: ブラックユーモア (burakkuyūmoa) — subgenre of comedy
  • Kazakh: қара әзіл (qara äzıl) — subgenre of comedy
  • Māori: pukuhohe mōkinokino — subgenre of comedy
  • Polish: czarny humor — subgenre of comedy
  • Portuguese: humor negro — subgenre of comedy
  • Portuguese: humor ácido — subgenre of comedy
  • Russian: чёрный ю́мор (čórnyj júmor) — subgenre of comedy
  • Spanish: humor negro — subgenre of comedy
  • Swedish: svart humor — subgenre of comedy
  • Turkish: kara mizah — subgenre of comedy