fun

[fuhn]

noun

1. something that provides mirth or amusement.

   A picnic would be fun.

   Synonyms: gaiety, play, pleasure, merriment

2. enjoyment or playfulness.

   She's full of fun.

   Synonyms: gaiety, play, pleasure, merriment

verb (used with or without object)

funned, funning 

1. Informal.,  joke; kid.

adjective

funner, funnest 

1. Informal.,  of or relating to fun, especially to social fun.

   a fun thing to do; really a fun person; the funnest game.

2. Informal.,  whimsical; flamboyant.

   The fashions this year are definitely on the fun side.

fun

/ fʌn /

noun

1. a source of enjoyment, amusement, diversion, etc

2. pleasure, gaiety, or merriment

3. jest or sport (esp in the phrases in or for fun )

4. facetious,  amusement; frivolous activity

5. informal

   1. (adverb) quickly; vigorously

   2. (interjection) not at all! certainly not!

6. to ridicule or deride

7. (modifier) full of amusement, diversion, gaiety, etc

   a fun sport

verb

1. informal,  (intr) to act in a joking or sporting manner

Word History and Origins

Origin of fun¹

First recorded in 1675–85; dialectal variant of obsolete fon “to befool”; fond ¹ ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of fun¹

C17: perhaps from obsolete fon to make a fool of; see _fond ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. for / in fun, as a joke; not seriously; playfully.

   His insults were only in fun.

2. make fun of, to make the object of ridicule; deride.

   The youngsters made fun of their teacher.

3. like fun, certainly not; of doubtful truth.

   He told us that he finished the exam in an hour. Like fun he did!

More idioms and phrases containing fun

• for fun
• funny
• like fun
• make fun of
• more fun than a barrel of monkeys

Example Sentences

The fun and camaraderie of yesterday’s large families is the victim of a falling birthrate.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

From beard oil to body wash, companies are ramping up their messaging and speaking directly to male consumers in more fun and frank ways.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s a fun puzzle for him to figure out how much emotion to show and when to let the mask slip to the audience, he added.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It emerged that the image was originally created by a company employee for fun, but one of his colleagues believed it was real and reported it to the boss.

Read more on Barron's

Although my parents loved seeing everyone, it was more fun for them to have just their 5 grandkids stay over at their place in Florida.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• celebration 
• distraction 
• enjoyment 
• joke 
• joy 
• laughter 
• pastime 
• pleasure 
• sport