amuse
to hold the attention of (someone) pleasantly; entertain or divert in an enjoyable or cheerful manner: She amused the guests with witty conversation.
to cause mirth, laughter, or the like, in: The comedian amused the audience with a steady stream of jokes.
to cause (time, leisure, etc.) to pass agreeably.
Archaic. to keep in expectation by flattery, pretenses, etc.
Obsolete.
to engross; absorb.
to puzzle; distract.
Origin of amuse
1synonym study For amuse
confusables note For amuse
Other words for amuse
Other words from amuse
- a·mus·a·ble, adjective
- a·mus·er, noun
- un·a·mus·a·ble, adjective
- un·a·mus·a·bly, adverb
Words Nearby amuse
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use amuse in a sentence
The purpose of art,” Bemelmans once said, “is to console and amuse—myself, and, I hope, others.
Madeline’s New York Moment: Ludwig Bemelmans’ Heroine Comes Home | Erin Cunningham | July 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTA purse can impress and intimidate, bewilder, berate, or amuse.
The Embassy produced a short video in advance of the trip, which, in the spirit of our times, is meant to both inform and amuse.
His masters would then amuse themselves by pelting him with bones.
Beauty can't amuse you, but brainwork—reading, writing, thinking—can.
It did not amuse me, nor, so far as I could discern, was Monsieur de Tressan greatly taken with it.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniYou think that if a man's charming, that's the end of him, and that all he's good for is to amuse a few old ladies at a tea party.
First Plays | A. A. MilneWhen he was in a good humour he used to amuse himself by saying, 'It's the first time a pipe has changed into a shoe.'
Honey-Bee | Anatole FranceIt is a big world she sees, big enough and beautiful enough to amuse a little girl for some while.
Child Life In Town And Country | Anatole FranceYou, who love to amuse yourself in all depths, will you not make an excursion into the depths of Edgar Poe?
Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautier
British Dictionary definitions for amuse
/ (əˈmjuːz) /
to keep pleasantly occupied; entertain; divert
to cause to laugh or smile
Origin of amuse
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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