pleasure

[ plezh-er ]

/ ˈplɛʒ ər /

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See synonyms for: pleasure / pleasured / pleasures / pleasuring on Thesaurus.com

noun

the state or feeling of being pleased.

enjoyment or satisfaction derived from what is to one's liking; gratification; delight.

worldly or frivolous enjoyment: the pursuit of pleasure.

recreation or amusement; diversion; enjoyment: Are you traveling on business or for pleasure?

sensual gratification.

a cause or source of enjoyment or delight: It was a pleasure to see you.

pleasurable quality: the pleasure of his company.

one's will, desire, or choice: to make known one's pleasure.

verb (used with object), pleas·ured, pleas·ur·ing.

to give pleasure to, especially sexually; gratify; please.

verb (used without object), pleas·ured, pleas·ur·ing.

to take pleasure; delight: I pleasure in your company.

to seek pleasure, as by taking a holiday.

OTHER WORDS FOR pleasure

1 happiness, gladness, delectation.

5 voluptuousness.

8 preference, wish, inclination, predilection.

See synonyms for pleasure on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

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Origin of pleasure

First recorded in1325–75; late Middle English (see please, -ure); replacing Middle English plaisir, from Middle French (noun use of infinitive), from Latin placēre “to please”

synonym study for pleasure

1. Pleasure, enjoyment, delight, joy refer to the feeling of being pleased and happy. Pleasure is the general term: to take pleasure in beautiful scenery. Enjoyment is a quiet sense of well-being and pleasurable satisfaction: enjoyment at sitting in the shade on a warm day. Delight is a high degree of pleasure, usually leading to active expression of it: delight at receiving a hoped-for letter. Joy is a feeling of delight so deep and so lasting that one radiates happiness and expresses it spontaneously: joy at unexpected good news.

OTHER WORDS FROM pleasure

pleas·ure·ful, adjectivepleas·ure·less, adjectivepleas·ure·less·ly, adverban·ti·pleas·ure, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pleasure in a sentence

Also she reads a lot of self-help books, and she consults the dictionary and thesaurus for pleasure.
The mind-boggling end of Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise, explained|Constance Grady|November 20, 2020|Vox
Second, teen brains get more pleasure than adult brains do from rewarding behaviors such as eating junk food.
Warning! Junk foods can harm a teen’s brain|Sharon Oosthoek|November 19, 2020|Science News For Students
We’re all seeking pleasure, we’re all seeking to feel good, we’re all looking for relief from the things that are troubling us.
Cal Cunningham lost. Katie Hill resigned. Are we still put off by sex scandals?|Lisa Bonos|November 12, 2020|Washington Post
The value of such interests — for others perhaps it is the pleasure of their cooking, reading, getting fit or binge-watching — is only heightened by headlines that make your hair stand on end.
In a grim year, a November Masters is something to be thankful for|Thomas M. Boswell|November 12, 2020|Washington Post

He gets wonderful exercise, he has a purpose every day, and he receives so much pleasure from it.
A teen with autism lost motivation for his walks to the post office. So strangers are sending cards to his P.O. Box.|Sydney Page|November 11, 2020|Washington Post
Arias claimed she had once caught him pleasuring himself while looking at photos of a little boy wearing only underwear.
Will Jodi Arias Go Free?|Christine Pelisek|May 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Yet the party had not been wholly devised for purposes of pleasuring.
Destiny|Charles Neville Buck
If not a Drunkard or a Reveller, yet going in that direction; having a liking for evil companions and Sunday pleasuring.
Broken Bread|Thomas Champness
It was not thus that young ladies were allowed to go a pleasuring at New Orleans.
Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty|J. W. de Forest
It was not the mirth and song of jolly pirates a-pleasuring ashore but the ferocious tumult of men in conflict and taken unawares.
Blackbeard: Buccaneer|Ralph D. Paine
I remember naught but that I wondered that you should prefer housewifery to pleasuring, answered Harriet gayly.
Peggy Owen at Yorktown|Lucy Foster Madison

British Dictionary definitions for pleasure

pleasure

/ (ˈplɛʒə) /

noun

an agreeable or enjoyable sensation or emotionthe pleasure of hearing good music

something that gives or affords enjoyment or delighthis garden was his only pleasure

amusement, recreation, or enjoyment
(as modifier)a pleasure boat; pleasure ground

euphemistic sexual gratification or enjoymenthe took his pleasure of her

a person's preference or choice

verb

(when intr, often foll by in) to give pleasure to or take pleasure (in)

Derived forms of pleasure

pleasureful, adjectivepleasureless, adjective

Word Origin for pleasure

C14 plesir, from Old French; related to Old French plaisir to please

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pleasure

OTHER WORDS FOR pleasure

Origin of pleasure

synonym study for pleasure

OTHER WORDS FROM pleasure

Words related to pleasure

How to use pleasure in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pleasure

Derived forms of pleasure

Word Origin for pleasure