amenity
Americannoun
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amenities
plural
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an agreeable way or manner; courtesy; civility.
the graceful amenities of society.
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any feature that provides comfort, convenience, or pleasure.
The house has a swimming pool, two fireplaces, and other amenities.
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the quality of being pleasing or agreeable in situation, prospect, disposition, etc.; pleasantness.
the amenity of the Caribbean climate.
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amenities, lavatory; bathroom: used as a euphemism.
noun
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(often plural) a useful or pleasant facility or service
a swimming pool was just one of the amenities
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the fact or condition of being pleasant or agreeable
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(usually plural) a social courtesy or pleasantry
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of amenity
1400–50; late Middle English amenite < Anglo-French < Latin amoenitās, equivalent to amoen ( us ) pleasing + -itās -ity
Explanation
Like built-in GPS, seat warmers and four-wheel drive, an amenity is a feature that contributes to comfort or value. Or in another sense, it's the overall pleasantness that results from all those cool features. Declared the American novelist Edith Wharton, “I despair of the Republic! Such dreariness, such whining sallow women, such utter absence of the amenities, such crass food, crass manners, crass landscape! What a horror it is for a whole nation to be developing without the sense of beauty, and eating bananas for breakfast.” As you can see, people throughout time have gotten cranky when they’ve felt their amenities to be lacking.
Vocabulary lists containing amenity
The Namesake
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ami, amor
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Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet
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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:
An attractive amenity is the private entrance with an elevator that opens directly into her apartment.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
It’s an unexpected amenity in a part of the city that seems otherwise hostile to pedestrians and cyclists, but one Papas wants incorporated around more of Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Working with her sister, Venus, who owns an interior design firm, Williams turned the property into her dream dwelling, complete with every luxurious amenity imaginable, including—of course—a private trophy room.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
The site still needs to go through the relevant planning stages, and the need for new homes will be balanced "against public amenity", the council added.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
The unit’s only amenity was the entertainment console—a large, flat touchscreen built into the wall.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
An online listing for the condo building boasts a menu of luxury amenities, including a gym, rooftop pool and pet spa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Now, his latest real estate purchase gives the former governor a substantial new foothold in the Hamptons—complete with enough acreage and amenities to turn his summers into a decidedly resortlike affair.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Earnings calls became an opportunity to promote the flashy amenities to prospective talent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Among the upscale amenities that were mentioned in the description are a fitness studio, a teahouse, a pool house, as well as a guesthouse studio with its own living room, fireplace, and private gated entry.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
She has accepted that the very lack of such amenities is the American way.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
