divertissement
Americannoun
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a diversion or entertainment.
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Music. divertimento.
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a short ballet or other performance serving as an interlude in a play, opera, etc.
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a program consisting of such performances.
noun
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a brief entertainment or diversion, usually between the acts of a play
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music
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a fantasia on popular melodies; potpourri
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a piece or pieces written to be played during the intervals in a play, opera, etc
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another word for divertimento
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of divertissement
1720–30; < French, equivalent to divertisse- (stem of divertir to divert ) + -ment -ment
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:
This 1898 divertissement by Marius Petipa, to the melodious music of Alexander Glazunov, is accented with moves shaped by Hungarian folk dance and has long been a staple of various classical ballet companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
The loveliest expression of these is in the second act, where the enchanted forest is replaced by a pure-dance divertissement.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2022
“Lost in Paris” grows a bit tiresome at feature length, but it’s a winning divertissement.
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2017
This stitched-together divertissement, complete with dance sequences and musical interludes, opens itself up to alterations, rearrangements and modern liberties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2016
With a slight splash, Matthew began scooping quartered slices of peaches into his mouth with such a zealous sucking and slurping that even his father paused to witness the divertissement.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
He followed it with a succession of intensely theatrical divertissements, often revolving around unexpected intellectual conceits or bizarre juxtapositions and featuring brilliant dialogue, puns, repartee, double meanings and misunderstandings.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025
Of course, no one remembers Bernini for his divertissements.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2021
To prove he was worth his salt in card-sharking, Fallon asked Reynolds to engage in a friendly game of Slapjack, yet another one of Fallon’s twisted divertissements.
From Time ● Sep. 22, 2015
Yet most of the dancing is in act two, where Clara and the rescued Nutcracker Prince/Nephew have been whisked away to the Kingdom of Sweets to be rewarded by a feast of exotic divertissements.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 18, 2012
These men are firmly against all the divertissements of more cultured regions.
From The American Credo A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind by Nathan, George Jean
Definitions 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.
