fun
Pronunciation: /fʌn/
noun
- enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure: the children were having fun in the play area
- a source of fun: people-watching is great fun
- playfulness or good humour: she’s full of fun
- behaviour or an activity that is intended purely for amusement and should not be interpreted as having any serious or malicious purpose: the column’s just a bit of fun
verb ( funs, funning, funned)
North American informal
Phrases
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for fun
(or for the fun of it) - in order to amuse oneself and not for any more serious purpose: I paint a bit for fun
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fun and games
- amusing and enjoyable activities: teaching isn’t all fun and games
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in fun
- not intended seriously; as a joke: remember when you meet the press to say that your speech was all in fun
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make fun of
- tease, laugh at, or joke about (someone) in a mocking or unkind way: she didn’t even notice he was making fun of her
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not much (or a lot of) fun
- used to indicate that something strikes one as extremely unpleasant and depressing: it can’t be much fun living next door to him
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not one's idea of fun
- used to emphasize one’s dislike for an activity or to mock someone else’s liking for it: being stuck behind a desk all day isn’t my idea of fun
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what fun!
- used to convey that an activity or situation sounds amusing or enjoyable: we’re going to build a snowman—what fun!
Origin:
late 17th century (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
The use of fun as an adjective meaning ‘enjoyable,’ as in we had a fun evening, is now established in informal use. The comparative and superlative forms funner and funnest are sometimes used but should be restricted to very informal contexts.