ill humor
1
6.8
- noun
- /ɪl ˈhjuːmər/
:
mal humor
- She tried to lighten the mood, but his ill humor persisted throughout the meeting.
Examples
-
We're afraid, though, that you might catch the ill humor from him.
Fiction book (1992) -
Except when he's in an ill humor.
-
The phone rang on Alan's desk ten minutes later, and he picked it up with ill humor.
Fiction book (1996) -
Fearing for her sanity, I sent for her sister Alice, just 18, but of even temper and sweet nature, whom, I reasoned, might cure her sister's ill humor or, at least, assist in the running of the household.
-
First he'll stew about it for a while—queue/stew queue/stew—and I'll have to endure his ill humor, and then he'll plan to put the creep into a book, into some story or other.
Fiction book (1994) -
His constant ill humor made it difficult for his friends to enjoy their time together.
-
Whenever he is in an ill humor, it's best to give him space until he calms down.
Synonyms
1
9.3
An angry or upset mood that makes someone quick to get annoyed
1
4.6
A bad mood that makes someone easily angry
A habit of being angry and unpleasant to others
Antonyms
How Irritable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a state of feeling angry, irritable, or disagreeable' is directly derivable from combining 'ill' (bad, unfriendly) with 'humor' (mood), yielding essentially 'bad mood'. This adjective+noun composition is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish mal humor) and follows standard semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words should understand it.
Etymology
Ill humor comes from an old idea that humor was a liquid in the body that changed how you felt. If that humor was ill, you would be in a bad mood, so the phrase means 'angry' or 'irritable'.