Humouring

Humouring (British English: humouring) involves indulging someone's moods, whims, or opinions, especially to keep them happy or to avoid upsetting them. It often implies a degree of tolerance or even subtle manipulation, where the person is allowed to proceed with their actions or beliefs, often knowing it's not entirely correct or logical, for the sake of maintaining harmony or avoiding conflict. It can involve agreement with someone's statements, even if you disagree, to appease them or to prevent them from becoming upset or agitated. Sometimes, humoring can be a way of being playfully indulgent or supportive, too.

Humouring meaning with examples

• The child was throwing a tantrum, so the parents were humoring them by offering more candy than usual. The intention was to quiet the child, allowing the grocery shopping to proceed without any interruption. This was a simple case of appeasement to achieve a short-term goal.
• The manager was humoring the difficult client's demands for a discount, hoping that he could still close the deal. The manager knew the request was unreasonable but ultimately prioritized preserving the sale and avoiding a conflict over rigid rules.
• During the argument, she decided to humour her partner by agreeing with their assessment, allowing the tension to dissipate and the debate to de-escalate, as she knew pursuing the subject was pointless. She knew it was a compromise.
• He was humoring his eccentric uncle by pretending to believe his outlandish stories. He understood that this brought his uncle genuine joy, so he happily played along, creating a shared moment of delight, even if the stories were fiction.