lack-laughter

English

Etymology

lack +‎ laughter

Adjective

lack-laughter (comparative more lack-laughter, superlative most lack-laughter)

1. (obsolete) Cheerless; sombre; serious.
   • 1771, John Horne, The Controversial Letters of John Wilkes, Esq., the Rev. John Horne, and Their Principal Adherents, page 153:

     The lack-laughter sangfroid of the parſon was the conſtant topic of his ridicule, and he complained that whenever I appeared I caſt a gloom over the mirth of his company.

   • 1850, “Agamemnon”, in Blackie, John Stuart, transl., The Lyrical Dramas of Æschylus, volume 1, translation of original by Aeschylus, page 48:

     […] many force / Lack-laughter faces to relax / Into the soft lines traced by joy.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:cheerless or Thesaurus:serious