fun

English

Etymology

From Middle English fon, fonne (“foolish, simple, silly”), of North Germanic origin, related to Swedish fånig (“foolish”), Swedish fåne (“a fool”). More at fon.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fʌn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌn

Adjective

fun (comparative more fun or funner, superlative most fun or funnest)

1. (informal) enjoyable, amusing.

   We had a fun time at the party.

   He is such a fun person to be with.

2. (informal) whimsical, flamboyant

   This year's fashion style is much more fun than recent seasons.

Usage notes

• fun is often confused with funny. The difference is that fun things make you happy, while funny things make you laugh.
• Note that the use of fun as an adjective is often not considered acceptable in formal contexts.
• For more on the slang comparative and superlative, the use of which is disputed, see this discussion

Derived terms

• funny

Translations

enjoyable, amusing

Arabic: مرح (ar) (máriḥ) Catalan: divertit (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 好玩 (zh) (hǎowán) Danish: sjov (da) Dutch: plezierig (nl), leuk (nl), lollig (nl), plezant (nl) (Flanders) Esperanto: amuza (eo) Finnish: hauska (fi), kiva (fi) French: amusant (fr) m., amusante (fr) f. German: lustig (de), spaßig (de) Hebrew: מהנה (he) (mehāne), (colloquial) כייפי (he) (kefi) Hungarian: szórakoztató (hu), poénos (hu), poén (hu), élvezetes (hu) Interlingua: amusante (ia) Italian: divertente (it) m. and f.

Japanese: 楽しい (ja) (たのしい, tanoshii) Korean: 즐거운 (ko) (jeulgeoun) Lojban: zdile (jbo) Luxembourgish: flott (lb) Macedonian: забавен (mk) (zábaven) m., разоноден (mk) (razónoden) m. Portuguese: divertido (pt) Romanian: distractiv (ro), vesel (ro) m. and n., plăcut (ro) m. and n. Russian: забавный (ru) (zabábnyj), смешной (ru) (smešnój), весёлый (ru) (vesjólyj) Spanish: divertido (es) m. Swahili: fani (sw) Swedish: skojig (sv), kul (sv), rolig (sv), skoj (sv), lustig (sv), gamman (sv) Tagalog: masaya (tl)

Noun

fun (uncountable)

1. amusement, enjoyment or pleasure.
   • 2000, Robert Stanley, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adobe Photoshop 6, Alpha Books, page 377

     Grafting your boss's face onto the hind end of a donkey is fun, but serious fun is when you create the impossible and it looks real.

2. playful, often noisy, activity.

Synonyms

• (enjoyment, amusement): amusement, diversion, enjoyment, a laugh, pleasure
• (playful, often noisy, activity): boisterousness, horseplay, rough and tumble

Derived terms

terms derived from fun (noun)

for the fun of it fun and games fun bags funfair funfest fun-loving fun-maker funny fun run, fun runner, fun running funster

good fun great fun have fun have fun with in fun like fun make fun of poke fun at

Translations

enjoyment or amusement

Arabic: مرح (ar) (máraḥ) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 玩 (zh) (wán), 熱鬧 (zh), 热闹 (zh) (rènao), 樂趣 (zh), 乐趣 (zh) (lèqù) Czech: zábava (cs) f., legrace (cs) f. Dutch: lol m., plezier n., pret f./m. Finnish: hauska (fi) French: amusement (fr) m. German: Spaß (de) m., Vergnügen (de) n., Amüsement (de) n. Hebrew: הנאה (he) (hānāʾā) m., כיף (he) (keif) m. Hindi: मज़ा (hi) (mazā) m. Hungarian: móka (hu), tréfa (hu), poén (hu), szórakozás (hu) Irish: spraoi (ga) m., craic (ga) f. Italian: divertimento (it) m. Japanese: 遊び (ja) (あそび, asobi) Korean: 재미 (ko) (jaemi)

Kurdish: بۆ هه‌وه‌س, رابواردن Luxembourgish: Amüsement (lb) m., Spaass (lb) m., Spaass (lb) m. Macedonian: забава (mk) (zábava) f., разонода (mk) (razónoda) f. Norwegian: moro (no) Persian: سرگرمی (fa) (sargarmi) Portuguese: divertimento (pt) m. Romanian: distracție (ro) f., amuzament (ro) n., divertisment (ro) n., plăcere (ro) f. Russian: потеха (ru) (potéxa) f., веселье (ru) (vesél’je) n., забава (ru) (zabáva) f., развлечение (ru) (razvlečénije) n. Scottish Gaelic: spòrs (gd) f. Spanish: diversión (es) f. Swahili: fani (sw) Tagalog: saya (tl) Ukrainian: потіха (uk) (potíxa) f., забава (uk) (zabáva) f., розвага (uk) (rozváha) f. Urdu: مزہ (ur) (mazā) m.

playful, often noisy, activity

Chinese: Mandarin: 玩 (zh) (wán), 熱鬧 (zh), 热闹 (zh) (rè'nao) Dutch: plezier (nl) n., pret (nl) Finnish: hauskanpito (fi) Hungarian: mulatozás (hu), mulatság (hu)

Italian: allegria (it) f., svago (it) m. Kurdish: هه‌وه‌س Norwegian: moro (no) Scottish Gaelic: spòrs (gd) f., dibhearsan (gd) m. Swahili: fani (sw)

Verb

fun (third-person singular simple present funs, present participle funning, simple past and past participle funned)

1. (colloquial) To tease, kid, poke fun at.

   Hey, don't get bent out of shape over it; I was just funning you.

Translations

to tease, kid, poke fun

Finnish: laskea leikkiä (fi), narrata (fi), kiusoitella (fi)

Anagrams

• FNU NFU, unf

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French

Adjective

fun inv.

1. (colloquial) fun

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Galician

Etymology 1

Inflected form of ir (“to go”).

Verb

fun

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ir

Etymology 2

Inflected form of ser (“to be”).

Verb

fun

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ser