Amusing
What it means
Pleasantly funny or entertaining without demanding a serious response.
Reach for it when recommending light material that is likely to prompt smiles
The guide included an amusing story about the building's first elevator.
Words to choose between 7
| playful | |
|---|---|
| everyday |
|
| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
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playful
a hoot
Fits when boisterous informal fun is exactly the tone
Careful This idiom trivializes a dignified person or event.
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everyday
Fits when laughter is the direct and uncomplicated effect
Careful Funny can also mean strange, which may create ambiguity.
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warm
Fits when likability and gentle pleasure outweigh laughter
Careful Charm does not guarantee that anything is funny.
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professional
Fits when sustained enjoyment matters more than comedy
Careful An entertaining lecture need not be amusing.
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professional
Fits when clever language or quick intelligence creates the humor
Careful Witty wrongly credits verbal cleverness to physical comedy.
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formal
Fits when odd, understated humor suits cultivated prose
Careful Many readers hear droll as merely dull or quaint.
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literary
comical
Fits when appearance or behavior is humorously exaggerated
Careful Comical can make a person seem ridiculous.
Opposites 3
- humorless
- tedious
- distressing
Common phrases 3
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amusing anecdote
He opened the workshop with an amusing anecdote about his first repair.
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highly amusing
The goat's escape route was highly amusing once everyone was safe.
-
find amusing
Young readers may find the pompous dragon amusing.
Word family 2
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Neskaya, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated