entertainment

[en-ter-teyn-muhnt]

noun

1. the act of entertaining; entertaining; agreeable occupation for the mind; diversion; amusement.

   Solving the daily crossword puzzle is an entertainment for many.

2. something affording pleasure, diversion, or amusement, especially a performance of some kind.

   The highlight of the ball was an elaborate entertainment.

3. hospitable provision for the needs and wants of guests.

4. a divertingly adventurous, comic, or picaresque novel.

5. Obsolete.,  maintenance in service.

entertainment

/ ˌɛntəˈteɪnmənt /

noun

1. the act or art of entertaining or state of being entertained

2. an act, production, etc, that entertains; diversion; amusement

Other Word Forms

• nonentertainment noun
• preentertainment noun
• self-entertainment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of entertainment¹

First recorded in 1525–35; entertain + -ment

Example Sentences

LG Electronics said that its media and entertainment segment, which includes its television business, faced higher marketing costs amid intensifying global competition.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said the whales would face similarly substandard treatment as "public entertainment" in the Chinese park, and denied Marineland's request.

Read more on BBC

The entertainment sector remains in a funk that started with the 2023 Hollywood writers strike, while AI is roiling the tech sector, with a loss of jobs and low hiring of recent graduates.

Read more on MarketWatch

They reached out to key players in the entertainment industry — including Walt Disney Co. — about potential areas for collaboration and trying to assuage concerns about its technology.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Michelle Hutson, 52, has been coming to the Family Drive-In since childhood, enjoying what is now a dying form of quintessentially American entertainment.

Read more on Barron's