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amusing

[uh-myoo-zing]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

pleasantly entertaining or diverting: an amusing speaker.

causing laughter or mirth; humorously entertaining: an amusing joke.

Origin:
1590–1600; amuse + -ing²

Related forms

a·mus·ing·ly, adverb

a·mus·ing·ness, noun

qua·si-a·mus·ing, adjective

qua·si-a·mus·ing·ly, adverb

un·a·mus·ing, adjective

EXPAND

un·a·mus·ing·ly, adverb

un·a·mus·ing·ness, noun

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
1. charming, cheering, lively. 2. laughable, delightful, funny. Amusing, comical, droll describe that which causes mirth. That which is amusing is quietly humorous or funny in a gentle, good-humored way: The baby's attempts to talk were amusing. That which is comical causes laughter by being incongruous, witty, or ludicrous: His huge shoes made the clown look comical. Droll adds to comical the idea of strange or peculiar, and sometimes that of sly or waggish humor: the droll antics of a kitten; a droll imitation.

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Amusing is always a great word to know.

So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Example Sentences

Hargitay herself, it's somehow less amusing than it should be.

Urice seems to think that he has shared an amusing personal anecdote about how his.

Palin's comments are usually amusing in an air-headed way.

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Hargitay herself, it's somehow less amusing than it should be.

Urice seems to think that he has shared an amusing personal anecdote about how his.

Palin's comments are usually amusing in an air-headed way.

Buster's bad habits are amusing to his owners, which makes breaking them even harder.

The amusing things science comes up with to deny a special creation.

Harriss traverses this landscape with an eye for the amusing and the arcane, covering high points in the portrait's celebrity:.

The nests are amusing containers for egg-shaped scoops of ice cream.

Anonymously texting your friends and colleagues with vulgar messages is quite amusing.

From first to last, this amusing pretension has garnished his public oratory, and the responses of fluent sycophants.

Higher education's odd characters and amusing nooks.

And this, naturally, can lead to amusing confusion.

Looking back, the whole situation was pretty amusing.

It is rather amusing if economists indeed think otherwise.

Microscopists have always delighted in the surprising, amusing and often profoundly beautiful scenes under their lenses.

Multiple versions of scenarios were formulated, a few too anodyne to be amusing and some too disgusting for words.

The myth that private is somehow a more efficient social organization than public is amusing.

Yet the discrepancy between her inner life and her actions is often amusing.

But to see the flag walking, with ten feet sticking out underneath, was mildly amusing.

The product they actually traffic in is amusing philosophical speculations.

Chilton's reviews of the museums and museum curators were amusing.

Many fishermen decorate their huts with amusing or practical accessories.

It's amusing to read the utterly dismissive and derisive comments of posters here.

But until then more comic opera, with even less amusing results, lies ahead.

Getting pushed aside or even barreled past is commonplace–and amusing.

Amusing how the only reasonable choice of fuel available today is being disparaged.

The slaves found it even more amusing to use the confusion of carnival as an occasion for uprisings.

Still, it's going to be a little while before this is more than an amusing little toy.

Sad, certainly, that they think this kind of gesture is amusing or funny.

The result is a lively, educational and occasionally amusing show.

Tatiana in an amusing science book that looks at the stranger side of.

It's amusing to hear them make noises about how their cranky new widgets will soon allow them to model their quest.

It's an amusing trip down memory lane, complete with a robotic pimp and cheesy kaleidoscopic freak-out scenes.

It would be amusing to you and your neighbors, even if it didn't work.

Now it is really amusing to see these rather odd evoluations.

It is amusing to see how many commentators never read the article.

The arguement one writer suggested about blood donors was amusing.

Twenty years ago it was perhaps amusing to waste time talking about the beauty of a lamp.

Such optimism would be amusing if there were not so many lives at stake.

There's no denying that some people found the story amusing though.

Click through for the winners and some amusing visuals.

Yes, fanny pack/bum bag usage often causes amusing moments in both countries.

Unfortunately, the situation has been anything but amusing.

Especially amusing were the ones where you knew the backstory, and could see how they were covering various things up.

The lack of curiousity generated by creationism is sometimes amusing.

It has been highly amusing to watch the date of their release repeatedly postponed for the last eight months.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object), a·mused, a·mus·ing.

to hold the attention of (someone) pleasantly; entertain or divert in an enjoyable or cheerful manner: She amused the guests with witty conversation.

to cause mirth, laughter, or the like, in: The comedian amused the audience with a steady stream of jokes.

to cause (time, leisure, etc.) to pass agreeably.

Archaic. to keep in expectation by flattery, pretenses, etc.

Obsolete.

to engross; absorb.

to puzzle; distract.

Origin:
1470–80; < Middle French amuser to divert, amuse; see a-⁵, muse

Related forms

a·mus·a·ble, adjective

a·mus·er, noun

un·a·mus·a·ble, adjective

un·a·mus·a·b·ly, adverb

Can be confused: amuse, bemuse (see synonym note at the current entry).

Synonyms
1. please, charm, cheer. Amuse, divert, entertain mean to occupy the attention with something pleasant. That which amuses is usually playful or humorous and pleases the fancy. Divert implies turning the attention from serious thoughts or pursuits to something light, amusing, or lively. That which entertains usually does so because of a plan or program that engages and holds the attention by being pleasing and sometimes instructive.

Link To amusing

Collins

World English Dictionary

amusing (əˈmjuːzɪŋ)

—*adj*
	mildly entertaining; pleasantly diverting; causing a smile or laugh

a'musingly

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

amuse

late 15c., from M.Fr. amuser "divert, cause to muse," from a "at, to" (but here probably a causal prefix) + muser "ponder, stare fixedly." Sense of "divert from serious business, tickle the fancy of" is recorded from 1630s, but through 18c. the primary meaning was "deceive, cheat" by first occupying

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the attention. Bemuse retains more of the original meaning.

amusing

c.1600, "cheating;" see amuse. Sense of "interesting" is from 1712; that of "pleasantly entertaining, tickling to the fancy" is from 1826. Noted late 1920s as a vogue word.

COLLAPSE

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"I never cared for fashion much, amusing little seams and witty little pleats: it was the girls I liked."

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