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Description
Different disciplines approach the definition of humor from different angles: philosophy through theoretical frameworks that explain why people find things funny, psychology through behavioral and dispositional dimensions that describe how humor is experienced and expressed. This paper examines the treatment of humor in terms of its lexicographic definition, drawing on entries from six Greek dictionaries currently in circulation. Through systematic microstructural analysis, definitional components are identified and categorized, revealing significant variation in how dictionaries conceptualize humor. Definitions are broken down into components that reveal lexicographers’ attitudes towards humor’s nature (what it is), manifestation (how it appears), subject (what its target is), features (what characterizes it), and function (what its goal is). Results demonstrate that while lexicographers employ diverse definitional strategies, ranging from analytical to functional approaches, they align on certain core elements, particularly humor’s cognitive dimension and social function. This research proposes a systematic methodology for analyzing how dictionaries handle abstract, culturally embedded concepts, providing a replicable framework applicable to other affective, cognitive, or socially constructed concepts such as irony, empathy, and creativity.