HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

fun

(fŭn)

1. Enjoyment; amusement: We had fun at the beach.

2. A source of enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure: Was the party fun?

v. funned, fun·ning, funs
Informal

v.intr.

To speak or act facetiously; joke or fool.

v.tr.

To tease or speak playfully to.

adj.
Informal

Enjoyable; amusing: "You're a real fun guy" (Margaret Truman).

Idiom:

for/in fun

As a joke; playfully.

[Possibly from fon, to make a fool of, from Middle English fonnen, to fool, possibly from fonne, fool.]

Usage Note: The use of fun as an adjective probably originated when people heard the noun in sentences like Skiing is fun and interpreted it as a predicate adjective along the lines of Skiing is enjoyable. From there it was a short step to using fun attributively to modify a noun, as in a fun time or a fun place. This usage has become widespread and must be considered standard; in our 2015 survey, the sentence We went to a fun party was judged acceptable by 84 percent of the Usage Panel. The inflection of the adjective (as funner, funnest) is another matter. Although the inflected forms have been in use since the 1950s, they are almost never found in edited prose aside from direct quotations, usually of children. In our survey, funner and funnest were rated as unacceptable by 88 percent and 80 percent of the Panelists, respectively, and most of the remainder rated them as merely "somewhat acceptable."

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

American Heritage Dictionary Products

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

THE USAGE PANEL

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

American Heritage Dictionary Products