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fun

UK/fʊn/ US/fʌn/ very common informal
noun (4) adjective (1)

noun

1.

activities that are enjoyable or amusing

  • “I do it for the fun of it”
  • “he is fun to have around”
Synonyms
2.

verbal wit (often at another''s expense but not to be taken seriously)

  • “he became a figure of fun”
Synonyms
3.

violent and excited activity

  • “she asked for money and then the fun began”
  • “they began to fight like fun”
4.

a disposition to find (or make) causes for amusement

  • “her playfulness surprised me”
  • “he was fun to be with”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

providing enjoyment; pleasantly entertaining

  • “an amusing speaker”
  • “a diverting story”
  • “a fun thing to do”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

From Middle English fonne, fon (“foolish, simple, silly”) or fonnen (“make a fool of”), from Middle English fonne (“a fool, dupe”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish fånig (“foolish”), Swedish fåne (“a fool”), from Old Norse fáni (“vain person, swaggerer”), but of unknown ultimate origin. Perhaps related to or influenced by fjäll (“rock, cliff, mountain”). Compare also English fumble, Norwegian Nynorsk fomme (“clumsy fool”). Compare also Norwegian fomme, fume (“a fool”). More at fon, fond. As a noun, fun is recorded from 1700, with a meaning “a cheat, trick, hoax”, from a verb fun meaning “to cheat, trick” (1680s). The meaning “diversion, amusement” dates to the 1720s. The older meaning is preserved in the phrase to make fun of (1737) and in usage of the adjective funny. The use of fun as adjective is newest and is due to reanalysis of the noun; this was incipient in the mid-19th century. Alternative etymology connected Middle English fonne with Old Frisian fonna, fone, fomne, variant forms of fāmne, fēmne (“young woman, virgin”), from Proto-West Germanic *faimnijā, from Proto-Germanic *faimnijǭ (“maiden”), from Proto-Indo-European *peymen- (“girl”), *poymen-...

Phrases

  • fun fact
  • fun fur
  • fun money
  • no fun at parties
  • you must be fun at parties

Related words

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.