entertainment
Americannoun
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the act of entertaining; entertaining; agreeable occupation for the mind; diversion; amusement.
Solving the daily crossword puzzle is an entertainment for many.
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something affording pleasure, diversion, or amusement, especially a performance of some kind.
The highlight of the ball was an elaborate entertainment.
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hospitable provision for the needs and wants of guests.
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a divertingly adventurous, comic, or picaresque novel.
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Obsolete. maintenance in service.
noun
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the act or art of entertaining or state of being entertained
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an act, production, etc, that entertains; diversion; amusement
Other Word Forms
- nonentertainment noun
- preentertainment noun
- self-entertainment noun
Etymology
Origin of entertainment
Explanation
Entertainment is amusement, usually involving a performance. The clown at a birthday party, a Broadway show, a stadium rock concert, your friends fighting over the last potato chip––these are all forms of entertainment. Entertainment is from the Old French word entretenir meaning hold together or support. It was associated with hospitality––when you entertained a guest, you were keeping them happy. From there, it came to mean amuse or distract. The entertainment is the amusement or the distraction––we talk about theatrical entertainment as shows, visual entertainment as the stuff you like to look at, and audio entertainment as mostly music.
Vocabulary lists containing entertainment
Media Literacy - High School
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Media Literacy - Middle School
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Media Literacy - Introductory
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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.
But will the entertainment on the pitch match the clamour for tickets?
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
The entertainment company is planning to eliminate as many as 1,000 positions in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
This is splashy entertainment with a few sharp elbows, like when Arthur grins, saying that “the algorithm loves remakes.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
The ex-television host said that former Fox News stars like Carlson and Kelly were run out of their positions not because of their heterodox views, but because they couldn’t hack it in the entertainment business.
From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026
She provided nonstop entertainment for the other young women.
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.
