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, fun·ning,

1. Informal. joke; kid.

adjective

, fun·ner, fun·nest.

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. fun and games facetious.
   amusement; frivolous activity
5. like fun informal.
   1. adverb quickly; vigorously
   2. interjection not at all! certainly not!
6. make fun of or poke fun at
   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. like fun, Informal. certainly not; of doubtful truth:

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

3. make fun of, to make the object of ridicule; deride:

   The youngsters made fun of their teacher.

More idioms and phrases containing fun

In addition to the idiom beginning with fun , also see for fun ; like fun ; make fun of ; more fun than a barrel of monkeys . Also see under funny .

Example Sentences

The addition of DeAndre Hopkins is making the Arizona Cardinals very fun to watch, and a healthy Cam Newton is showing why the power run is so hard to defend against in New England.

From FiveThirtyEight

Meanwhile, bounce rate, session duration, and session depth rely on whether there is anything fun to do on your page.

From Search Engine Land

So when Mitsu got the AAC job, I thought it would be fun to interview him, but not so formally.

From Outside Online

Brands have found hashtag challenges are a useful hook for creating fun, shareable and viral content on TikTok.

From Digiday

This person lists all the benefits of these environmentally positive behaviors, offers to make the actions easier for you, and gives you a fun goodie bag.

From Fortune

It may be fun and it may get them paid, until oversaturation ruins our sense for irony and destroys the market for it.

From The Daily Beast

As far as I can tell, this magazine spent as much time making fun of French politicians as it did of Muslims or Islam.

From The Daily Beast

And yes, our values include tolerance of those who wish to make fun of religion.

From The Daily Beast

Like I would do something making fun of somebody who was already down.

From The Daily Beast

But quite unlike the schmuck, and this is the fun part, they never run up the white flag; indeed quite the opposite.

From The Daily Beast

There'll be heaps uh fun in the Cypress Hills country when they get t' runnin' the whisky-jacks out.

From Project Gutenberg

Gottschal knew perfectly well what was wanting, but he wished to have a little fun out of the matter.

From Project Gutenberg

We had our fun, and cleared besides a profit of nearly four pounds sterling.

From Project Gutenberg

At lunch he was the greatest possible fun, bubbling over with jokes and witty sallies.

From Project Gutenberg

Alila has still another way of fishing which is not as hard work as diving, though, after all, it is not much fun.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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