Amuse Definition

ə-myo͝oz
amused, amuses, amusing
verb
amused, amuses, amusing
To hold the attention of or occupy in an agreeable fashion.
Amused myself with a puzzle.
American Heritage
To keep pleasantly or enjoyably occupied or interested; entertain.
We amused ourselves with games.
Webster's New World
To cause to laugh or smile by being funny.
Amused the crowd with jokes.
American Heritage
To make laugh, smile, etc. by being comical or humorous.
Webster's New World
To delude or deceive.
American Heritage
Antonyms:

Origin of Amuse

  • From Middle English amusen (“to mutter, be astonished, gaze meditatively on”), from Middle French amuser (“to amuse, divert, babble”), from Old French amuser (“to stupefy, waste time, be lost in thought”), from a- + muser (“to stare stupidly at, gape, wander, waste time, loiter, think carefully about, attend to”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Cognate with Occitan musa (“idle waiting”), Italian musare (“to gape idly about”). Possibly from Old French *mus (“snout”) from Proto-Romance *mūsa (“snout”) (—compare Medieval Latin mūsum (“muzzle, snout”)), from Proto-Germanic *mū- (“muzzle, snout”), from Proto-Indo-European *mū- (“lips, muzzle”). Compare North Frisian müs, mös (“mouth”), German Maul (“muzzle, snout”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Alternative etymology connects Old French muser and Occitan musa with Old Frankish *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtǭ (“leave, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *med- (“to acquire, possess, control”). Cognate with Old High German *muoza (“careful attention, leisure, idleness”), Old High German muozōn (“to be idle, have leisure or opportunity”), German Muße (“leisure”). More at empty.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Old French amuser to stupefy a- to (from Latin ad- ad–) muser to stare stupidly muse

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to amuse using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

amuse