entertainer
Americannoun
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entertainers
plural
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a singer, comedian, dancer, reciter, or the like, especially a professional one.
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a person who entertains; host.
She was one of the capital's great entertainers.
noun
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a professional singer, comedian, or other performer who takes part in public entertainments
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any person who entertains
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of entertainer
Explanation
An entertainer is a person whose job or goal is to perform for the amusement of others. If you're an entertainer, you might learn how to tap dance and take singing lessons. If you make your living as a comedian, you're an entertainer. You're also an entertainer if you're a dancer, singer, actor, or puppeteer. In all of these cases, your job is to entertain an audience. You can also call the member of your family who's always trying to make everyone laugh an entertainer. The word comes from the verb entertain, which originally meant "to keep up or maintain," and came to also mean "amuse" in the early 17th century.
Vocabulary lists containing entertainer
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:
The veteran entertainer Christopher Biggins said Cricket was "unbelievably fantastic, I don't think I met a nicer man ever".
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Nik Ewing had an entertainer playing Ghost-Spider at his daughter Linnéa’s fourth birthday party and waited in a long line so she could meet Spider-Man at Disneyland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Under Murat Yakin, Switzerland have proved obdurate opponents and have their own entertainer in 20-year-old Johan Mazambi, although he missed their penalty shootout victory over Colombia through injury.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
It was the first time I really learned how to talk to an audience, read a room as an entertainer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
The announcement in the paper states that Hector Bowen, better known as Prospero the Enchanter, entertainer and stage magician of great renown, died of heart failure in his home on the fifteenth of March.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
His commitment to exciting attacking football remained, signing entertainers such as Eyal Berkovic and Ali Benarbia.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Big personalities like Rousey and Conor McGregor helped him do it: both great fighters in their own right, both polarizing entertainers capable of generating big headlines.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
He was one of the first entertainers to recognize that there was more money to be made in owning your content, rather than just performing it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
Many entertainers dabble in tech with a party-round investment or vanity app.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
There was a hot blaze in the iron stove, a festive tree smelling of pine needles, professional entertainers from Moscow, and an amateur talent show.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
