AMUSEMENT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does amusement mean? 

• AMUSEMENT (noun)
  The noun AMUSEMENT has 2 senses:

1. a feeling of delight at being entertained

2. an activity that is diverting and that holds the attention

  Familiarity information: AMUSEMENT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AMUSEMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A feeling of delight at being entertained

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("amusement" is a kind of...):

delectation; delight (a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction)

Derivation:

amuse (make (somebody) laugh)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An activity that is diverting and that holds the attention

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

amusement; entertainment

Hypernyms ("amusement" is a kind of...):

diversion; recreation (an activity that diverts or amuses or stimulates)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "amusement"):

beguilement; distraction (an entertainment that provokes pleased interest and distracts you from worries and vexations)

edutainment (entertainment that is intended to be educational)

extravaganza (any lavishly staged or spectacular entertainment)

militainment (entertainment with military themes in which the Department of Defense is celebrated)

night life; nightlife (the entertainment available to people seeking nighttime diversion)

show (the act of publicly exhibiting or entertaining)

Derivation:

amuse (occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion)

 Context examples 

This will be a bad day's amusement for you if you are to be knocked up.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

If he proposed a little amusement at home, "No, it would disturb the babies."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Perhaps I am the readier to suspect, because, to tell you the truth, I think it might have been some amusement to myself in the same situation.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He was a good sailor, and I was but an indifferent one; and when he went out boating with Mr. Peggotty, which was a favourite amusement of his, I generally remained ashore.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"Shame! Shame!" "Give him a hearing!" "Put him out!" "Shove him off the platform!" "Fair play!" emerged from a general roar of amusement or execration.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Here you are in pursuit only of amusement all day long.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

But I was determined not to seem at a loss for occupation or amusement: I had brought my drawing materials with me, and they served me for both.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The Wallises, she had amusement in understanding them.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

“I do not cough for my own amusement,” replied Kitty fretfully.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He glanced at her, a moment’s amusement softening his features.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)