entertain
Americanverb (used with object)
-
entertains,
present (3rd person singular)
-
entertained,
past participle, past
-
entertaining
present participle
-
to hold the attention of pleasantly or agreeably; divert; amuse.
- Antonyms:
- bore
-
to have as a guest; provide food, lodging, etc., for; show hospitality to.
-
to admit into the mind; consider.
He never entertained such ideas.
- Antonyms:
- reject
-
to hold in the mind; harbor; cherish.
They secretly entertained thoughts of revenge.
-
Archaic. to maintain or keep up.
-
Obsolete. to give admittance or reception to; receive.
verb (used without object)
-
entertains,
present (3rd person singular)
-
entertained,
past participle, past
-
entertaining
present participle
verb
-
to provide amusement for (a person or audience)
-
to show hospitality to (guests)
-
(tr) to hold in the mind
to entertain an idea
Synonym Usage
See amuse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
preentertainverb (used with object)
-
overentertainedadjective
-
unentertainedadjective
-
well-entertainedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
entertainsimple
-
entertainssimple
-
have entertainedperfect
-
has entertainedperfect
-
am entertainingprogressive
-
are entertainingprogressive
-
is entertainingprogressive
-
have been entertainingperfect progressive
-
has been entertainingperfect progressive
Past
-
entertainedsimple
-
had entertainedperfect
-
was entertainingprogressive
-
were entertainingprogressive
-
had been entertainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of entertain
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English entertenen “to hold mutually,” from Middle French entretenir, ultimately from Vulgar Latin intertenēre (unrecorded), from Latin inter- inter- + tenēre “to hold”
Explanation
If you want to entertain, you've got to hold people's attention, usually with something amusing. Clowns, music, silly jokes, and a good game of charades can all be used to entertain. Did you know you can actually entertain ideas? It's not quite the same as entertaining friends with a good home cooked meal or tickets to the ball game, but still an appropriate way to use the word. To entertain an idea means to have it in mind or under consideration. For example, you never thought of studying abroad, but after a professor said it was one of the most meaningful experiences of his life, you started to entertain the idea of living in a foreign country.
Vocabulary lists containing entertain
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" by Patrick Henry (1775)
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“It’s not a permanent opposition,” he says, “There’s enough overlap already that we might see a staffer class that starts in DSA and is willing to entertain joining MYD.”
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
Another newcomer to the industry, Sam Cohen, makes videos about his misadventures after buying a laundromat in Old Bridge, N.J., hoping to entertain his small following.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
Villa entertain Norwegian side Viking in their third Champions League match of the season on Wednesday before hosting a Manchester City side that have won all seven of their Premier League matches this season.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
It’s an endless stream of nothing, meant to fill time more than entertain, like the brainrotted AI slop that pollutes TikTok streams, except many leagues less interesting.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
I might be especially unlikeable to you because I’m not beautiful like Scheherazade, or funny, but I still have her job to entertain you.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Britain's The Guardian newspaper said the movie "entertains us with creepy campfire tales" but the Hollywood Reporter called it a "dull existential drama" while The Wrap website described it as a "frustrating slog".
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Host and journalist Anders Kvaal entertains both sides of the fracas with his ears open and his mouth largely shut.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
The paved terrace, for example, is an imitation of a similar space in Palm Beach where the president routinely entertains.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2025
Oates seems to posit that we allow whatever entertains, and we return to whatever has entertained before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2025
Or so it seems to his father as, on a fan-cooled veranda, he entertains apocalyptic thoughts of marching armies, a new dynasty, the end of society as they know it.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
The story goes that Disney would bring his daughters to the merry-go-round, sit on a bench and dream of a place where adults and children could be entertained together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The updated policy does not explicitly cite so-called "model welfare," the idea that AI systems might deserve types of protection usually reserved for living things, but Anthropic and its executives have openly entertained the concept.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Here he echoed the sentiment of United's most successful manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who in 2017 said: "You have a duty to entertain. We have to always remember there's a public to be entertained."
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
“The sheer volume of information captured is not something that is entertained, in my view, by the Fourth Amendment,” said Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
They ate and entertained Big Ma and told more than we’d agreed on about our time with Cecile.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Noah Reid and Carrie-Anne Moss star in an ambiguous but entertaining eight-part series that draws on the Slavic myth of Baba Yaga.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
I’ve written previously about low-pressure potluck entertaining, and the same principles work beautifully here.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
Cardiff host Bath in December and then face a pair of French teams in January, travelling to Stade Francais and entertaining Montpellier.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
Comedy gives him permission, given that he holds up his end of the deal of being entertaining.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
While I was entertaining these trivial thoughts, a momentous and terrible event was unfolding close by.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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