entertain

[ en-ter-teyn ]

/ ˌɛn tərˈteɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR entertain ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to hold the attention of pleasantly or agreeably; divert; amuse.

to have as a guest; provide food, lodging, etc., for; show hospitality to.

to admit into the mind; consider: He never entertained such ideas.

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)

to exercise hospitality; entertain company; provide entertainment for guests: They loved to talk, dance, and entertain.

Words related to entertain

honored, amused, enthralled, received, welcomed, sheltered, harbored, feted, cherished, treated, regaled, charmed, tickled, relaxed, pleased, engrossed, delighted, transported, occupied, interested

Words nearby entertain

enterprise allowance scheme, enterprise investment scheme, enterprise zone, enterpriser, enterprising, entertain, entertainer, entertaining, entertainment, enthalpy, enthesis

Origin of entertain

1425–75; late Middle English entertenen to hold mutually < Middle French entretenir ≪ Vulgar Latin *intertenēre, equivalent to Latin inter- inter- + tenēre to hold

SYNONYMS FOR entertain

1 beguile, regale.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR entertain ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR entertain

1 bore.

3 reject.

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OTHER WORDS FROM entertain

o·ver·en·ter·tained, adjectivepre·en·ter·tain, verb (used with object)un·en·ter·tained, adjectivewell-en·ter·tained, adjective

synonym study for entertain

1. See amuse.

Examples from the Web for entertained

We want [fans] to walk away changed or better or at least entertained by it.
Four TV Shows We Can’t Wait to Return In 2015|DISH|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For us, WoodRocket is paving the way for creating a place you can come to—and come at—and stay and be entertained.
Inside the Greatest Porn Parody Factory: From ‘Game of Bones’ to ‘The Humper Games’|Gabriella Paiella|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She kept servants and, evidently, three slaves, and entertained academics and philosophers in an elite salon.
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun|Katie Baker|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The issues seem “stale” only because the commentators demand to be entertained.
What Al Franken’s Normcore Senate Race Can Teach Other Democrats|Ana Marie Cox|October 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He spent most of his vacation as the guest of our printers in Philadelphia, and they entertained him handsomely.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire|H.L. Mencken|October 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He knew very well that a man of strong character would never have entertained this project.
New Grub Street|George Gissing
But from his earliest years he had entertained romantic notions, adventurous desires.
The Flockmaster of Poison Creek|George W. Ogden
They had not entertained the suggestion that the open air is only one of the advantages of the open sky.
The Ball and The Cross|G.K. Chesterton
Here she received and entertained her friends every evening from five until nine o'clock.
Woman in Science|John Augustine Zahm
Such designs, full of genius and full of fate as they are, are not entertained except avowedly as air-pictures.
Essays, Second Series|Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for entertained

entertain

/ (ˌɛntəˈteɪn) /

verb

to provide amusement for (a person or audience)

to show hospitality to (guests)

(tr) to hold in the mindto entertain an idea

Word Origin for entertain

C15: from Old French entretenir, from entre- mutually + tenir to hold, from Latin tenēre

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012