adjective
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- amusingly adverb
- amusingness noun
- quasi-amusing adjective
- quasi-amusingly adverb
- unamusing adjective
- unamusingly adverb
- unamusingness noun
Etymology
Origin of amusing
Explanation
The adjective amusing describes someone or something that makes you laugh. Something that you find amusing, like your favorite stand up comic, might be less amusing to your easily offended grandmother. A pastime that's enjoyably diverting can also be described as amusing, like playing board games on a rainy day. Amusing comes from the verb amuse, which is itself from the Middle French word amuser. Interestingly, amuser meant "to stare at stupidly," and the English word originally meant "to deceive by distraction." The more benign funny and enjoyable meanings didn't arise until much later, but they eventually made the original meaning obsolete.
Vocabulary lists containing amusing
Tone and Point of View, List 1
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ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 6
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12 More Interesting Ways to Say "interesting"
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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.
My surname is amusing, so do enjoy it.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
These sweeping observations are leavened by Mr. Windolf’s countless and often amusing anecdotes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
And Wiseman relayed an amusing anecdote about Canadian Hansen, whose trip around the Moon was also his first time in space.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
It’s amusing that Altman would say of his new hires, “I don’t expect them to go any easier on us.”
From Slate • Apr. 7, 2026
The staff called Farmer a blan, too—ti blan mwen, “my little white guy”—which he found amusing and considered a term of endearment.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
