/ fʌn; NAmE / noun , adjective
■ noun [ U ]
1.
enjoyment; pleasure; a thing that gives enjoyment or pleasure and makes you feel happy :
We had a lot of fun at Sarah's party.
Sailing is good fun .
Have fun (= Enjoy yourself) !
I decided to learn Spanish, just for fun .
I didn't do all that work just for the fun of it .
It's not much fun going to a party on your own.
'What fun!' she said with a laugh.
Walking three miles in the pouring rain is not my idea of fun .
'What do you say to a weekend in New York?' 'Sounds like fun.'
2.
behaviour or activities that are not serious but come from a sense of enjoyment :
She's very lively and full of fun .
We didn't mean to hurt him. It was just a bit of fun .
It wasn't serious - it was all done in fun .
➡ note at entertainment
•
IDIOMS
- fun and games
- make fun of sb/sth
—more at figure noun , poke verb
■ adjective
amusing or enjoyable :
She's really fun to be with.
This game looks fun!
There are lots of fun things for young people to do here.
••
SYNONYMS
fun
pleasure ♦ (a) good time ♦ enjoyment ♦ (a) great time
These are all words for the feeling of enjoying yourself, or activities or time that you enjoy.
fun
( rather informal ) the feeling of enjoying yourself; activities that you enjoy:
We had a lot of fun at Sarah's party.
•
Sailing is good / great fun .
pleasure
( rather formal ) the feeling of enjoying yourself or being satisfied:
Reading for pleasure and reading for study are not the same.
(a) good time
( rather informal ) a time that you spend enjoying yourself:
We had a good time in Spain.
enjoyment
( rather formal ) the feeling of enjoying yourself:
I get a lot of enjoyment from music.
pleasure or enjoyment?
Enjoyment usually comes from an activity that you do; pleasure can come from sth that you do or sth that happens:
He beamed with pleasure at seeing her.
• He beamed with enjoyment at seeing her.
(a) great time
( rather informal ) a time that you spend enjoying yourself very much:
We had a really great time together.
PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS :
great fun / pleasure / enjoyment
to have fun / a good time / a great time
to take pleasure / enjoyment in sth
to get pleasure / enjoyment from sth
to spoil the fun / sb's pleasure / sb's enjoyment
to do sth for fun / pleasure / enjoyment
••
WORD ORIGIN
late 17th cent. (denoting a trick or hoax): from obsolete fun to cheat or hoax , dialect variant of late Middle English fon make a fool of, be a fool , related to fon a fool , of unknown origin. Compare with fond .