- present participle of entertain.
entertaining
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of entertaining
Explanation
Things that are entertaining are enjoyable and distracting. Going to the circus is an entertaining way to spend an afternoon. Activities like playing games and watching movies can be entertaining, and you can also describe a friend who's particularly funny or fun to be with as entertaining. The adjective comes from the related verb, entertain, which meant "keep up, maintain, or keep someone in a certain frame of mind" in the fifteenth century. It comes from the Old French entretenir, "hold together."
Vocabulary lists containing entertaining
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.
But ambitions for humanoid rentals go beyond the entertaining dance routines that are shared on social media, often in China.
From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026
New reads abound for your vacation tote throughout the weeks of July, with fiction picks featuring a Carnival cruise casualty, a highly entertaining jewel heist at the Waldorf-Astoria, and a Soviet-era madcap adventure.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026
Like many of the survivors he is committed to helping others, in this instance by entertaining the camp's children.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
“His entertaining may have hurt his body,” Ms. Barbier notes, “but it paid off when France decided to send military help to the United States in 1778.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026
Augustus Strong found Kate Fox cute and entertaining but her so-called spirits unbelievable.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
