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AMUSING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Arousing or provoking laughter
Example:
risible courtroom antics
Synonyms:
amusing; comic; comical; funny; laughable; mirthful; risible
Classified under:
Similar:
humorous; humourous (full of or characterized by humor)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Providing enjoyment; pleasantly entertaining
Example:
a diverting story
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
interesting (arousing or holding the attention)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb amuse
Context examples:
Whilst the council was sitting in Pampeluna the White Company, having encamped in a neighboring valley, close to the companies of La Nuit and of Black Ortingo, were amusing themselves with sword-play, wrestling, and shooting at the shields, which they had placed upon the hillside to serve them as butts.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was an amusing case; and sent me up to Highgate, on the box of the stage-coach, thinking about the Commons, and what Mr. Spenlow had said about touching the Commons and bringing down the country.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Lucy was naturally clever; her remarks were often just and amusing; and as a companion for half an hour Elinor frequently found her agreeable; but her powers had received no aid from education: she was ignorant and illiterate; and her deficiency of all mental improvement, her want of information in the most common particulars, could not be concealed from Miss Dashwood, in spite of her constant endeavour to appear to advantage.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Now I have performed the part of a good host, pursued Mr. Rochester, put my guests into the way of amusing each other, I ought to be at liberty to attend to my own pleasure.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
But, while apparently amusing themselves in the most careless fashion, they were half-consciously making discoveries and forming opinions about each other.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Martin caught an amusing glimpse of himself ironing fluffy white things that women wear.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It was amusing to me to see how the detective’s overbearing manner had changed suddenly to that of a child asking questions of its teacher.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We shall be only amusing ourselves.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Amusing enough, if my mind had been disengaged; but I would have given the world to sit still.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Mr. Knightley, who had nothing of ceremony about him, was offering by his short, decided answers, an amusing contrast to the protracted apologies and civil hesitations of the other.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
