a ‧ mus ‧ ing /əˈmjuːzɪŋ/ BrE AmE adjective
funny and entertaining:
I don’t find his jokes at all amusing.
a highly amusing (=very amusing) film
an amusing story/anecdote/incident etc
The book is full of amusing stories about his childhood.
mildly/vaguely amusing (=a little amusing, but not very)
a mildly amusing spectacle
—amusingly adverb
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REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say funny rather than amusing :
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Someone told me a really funny joke.
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THESAURUS
▪ funny making you laugh:
John told me a really funny joke.
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She’s very talented and funny.
▪ amusing especially written funny and enjoyable. Amusing is more formal than funny . It is often used when something is a little funny and makes you smile, rather than laugh:
an amusing anecdote
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He found the whole incident rather amusing.
▪ humorous intended to be funny – used about stories, films, articles etc that have situations that are a little funny:
humorous stories
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The movie is meant to be humorous.
▪ witty using words in a funny and clever way:
witty remarks
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How witty!
▪ hilarious /hɪˈleəriəs $ -ˈler-/ ( also hysterical informal ) extremely funny:
The children thought it was hilarious.
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The movie has some hilarious scenes.
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It was hysterical! You should have seen his face!
▪ comical funny in a strange or silly way – often used when something is not intended to be funny:
It was quite comical watching him trying to dance.
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her own comical attempts at painting
▪ comic [only before noun] a comic film, play, novel etc is intended to be funny:
a comic drama
▪ light-hearted done for amusement or enjoyment, and not intended to be serious:
The programme is a light-hearted look at recent political events.
▪ comedy noun [countable] a film, play, or television programme that is intended to be funny:
a comedy by Shakespeare
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She has appeared in several television comedies.
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a new comedy series on Channel 4