entertainer
Americannoun
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entertainers
plural
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a singer, comedian, dancer, reciter, or the like, especially a professional one.
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a person who entertains; host.
She was one of the capital's great entertainers.
noun
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a professional singer, comedian, or other performer who takes part in public entertainments
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any person who entertains
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of entertainer
Explanation
An entertainer is a person whose job or goal is to perform for the amusement of others. If you're an entertainer, you might learn how to tap dance and take singing lessons. If you make your living as a comedian, you're an entertainer. You're also an entertainer if you're a dancer, singer, actor, or puppeteer. In all of these cases, your job is to entertain an audience. You can also call the member of your family who's always trying to make everyone laugh an entertainer. The word comes from the verb entertain, which originally meant "to keep up or maintain," and came to also mean "amuse" in the early 17th century.
Vocabulary lists containing entertainer
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.
See Examples For:
Nik Ewing had an entertainer playing Ghost-Spider at his daughter Linnéa’s fourth birthday party and waited in a long line so she could meet Spider-Man at Disneyland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
This huge talent plays with a smile on his face and is a natural entertainer who departed the tournament with three goals in four games.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Under Murat Yakin, Switzerland have proved obdurate opponents and have their own entertainer in 20-year-old Johan Mazambi, although he missed their penalty shootout victory over Colombia through injury.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Allen, the late Australian entertainer portrayed by Hugh Jackman in Broadway’s Tony-winning “The Boy From Oz,” had played the tune for Manilow in the early ’80s.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
All agreed that she was a superb entertainer.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Tom Dreesen’s legacy will live on through the laughter he created, the barriers he helped break, the entertainers he inspired, and the countless lives he touched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Big personalities like Rousey and Conor McGregor helped him do it: both great fighters in their own right, both polarizing entertainers capable of generating big headlines.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
"Sometimes people say athletes are in show business or entertainers or whatever," Osaka said.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
“These entertainers have historically been more than just hosts, but in many ways served as the face of their networks,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
There was a hot blaze in the iron stove, a festive tree smelling of pine needles, professional entertainers from Moscow, and an amateur talent show.
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.
