Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use entertain in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Entertain means to amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably. Example: “The motivational speaker not only instructed but also entertained the audience.”

Examples of entertain by meaning

verbTo amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.

  • to entertain friends with lively conversation
  • The motivational speaker not only instructed but also entertained the audience.

verbTo have someone over at one's home, or some other venue, for a party or visit.

  • They enjoy entertaining a lot.

verbTo receive and take into consideration; to have a thought in mind.

  • The committee would like to entertain the idea of reducing the budget figures.
  • to entertain a proposal

More sentences with entertain

  • The pilots entertained the spectators at the airshow by doing multiple rolls.From the entry roll
  • Gladiators were combatants who fought to the death to entertain the public.From the entry combatant
  • He was noted to entertain lavishly, throwing the biggest and best parties in town.From the entry lavishly
  • Between courses, the banqueters were entertained by minstrels in medieval garb.From the entry banqueter
  • I've boxed in exhibition bouts to entertain the crowds.From the entry bout
  • He dressed foolishly to entertain the children.From the entry foolishly
  • She rhymed off the girl's toys to entertain her.From the entry rhyme off
  • You must have been very entertained watching us look for her.2024, E.M. Scott, The Missing and the Dead. From the entry entertained
  • When I’m listening to an audiobook, I’m being entertained like a tired ploughman.2022 September 16, James Parker, “An Ode to Being Read To”, in The Atlantic. From the entry bardically
  • Musician who never meet before the journey entertain we with mento song.2020, Paul Mendez, Rainbow Milk, Dialogue Books (2021), page 19. From the entry mento
  • They are far more entertained by films than even we on Earth .2018, Lucifer Jeremy White, Book Three of the Five Planets. From the entry entertained
  • Singers entertain patrons with song and dance, sometimes in the form of a variety performance.2017 June 22, Aaron Chan, “Singapore Talking: Thriving Thai-speaking community”, in The Straits Times, Singapore: The Straits Times…. From the entry siam diu
  • Sometimes goofiness is all you need to keep a child entertained to use the potty.2017 November 10, Lafwa S. Espero, Faith, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 132. From the entry potty dance
  • But I rarely entertain an urge to either pile on or argue back.2016, Chuck Eddy, “’10s”, in Terminated for Reasons of Taste: Other Ways to Hear Essential and Inessential Music, Durham, N.C.: Duke…. From the entry headstart
  • Please have a seat” and entertain their customers with patriotic music in the cab during the ride.2013 October, Per Anders Rudling, “Memories of ‘Holodomor’ and National Socialism in Ukrainian political culture”, in Yves Bizeul, editor…. From the entry heroiam slava
  • The dining room was empty, but we had a living room to entertain and cool bedrooms.2012, Remo Kareem, I Am That Man..., page 32. From the entry on and popping
  • At the moment, meeting interesting, 'could be, maybe not' prospectives around the globe keeps her entertained.2006, Verve: The Spirit of Today's Woman, volume 14, numbers 4-6, page 114. From the entry prospective
  • See House of Wax in 3-D if you want to be entertained.2006, John Howard Reid, Great Cinema Detectives. From the entry deepie
  • You may want to entertain buying a thatch rake that is more sturdy.2004, Thomas J. Neviaser, Man's Unofficial Guide to the Use of His Garage, →ISBN, page 59. From the entry thatch rake
  • Any culture crediting supernatural powers is likely to entertain an afterlife of sorts.2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Ch.1, at p.18. From the entry metempsychosis
  • Certainly, Ciano, growing more Germanophobe by the day, had entertained the thought.2002, C. J. Lowe, F. Marzari, Italian Foreign Policy, 1870-1940, page 363. From the entry Germanophobe
  • Here the guests were lavishly entertained with drinks and bitings even before sitting down to dinner.1997, Women in Kenya, page 20. From the entry biting
  • It's not just the case that it tries to entertain them.1988, Noam Chomsky, Massey Lectures (Necessary Illusions). From the entry meme
  • It tries to entertain them through memes, which will intensify attitudes that support the interests of elites.1988, Noam Chomsky, Massey Lectures (Necessary Illusions). From the entry meme
  • Calypso began with the "chantwells." These were slaves who entertained plantation owners in colonial times.1976, Robert J. Alexander et al., edited by John P. Augelli, Caribbean Lands, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Fideler Co., →ISBN, page 89, column 1. From the entry chantwell
  • “They’re used to having their own way and they never entertain the thought of failure.1975, Leslie Tonner, Nothing But the Best: The Luck of the Jewish Princess, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, →ISBN, page 144. From the entry princessness
  • We do not entertain as much anymore because of Derek. (He produces strain.1974, Joseph Heller, Something happened, →ISBN, page 509. From the entry Derek
  • The viewer sits in front of the "magic box," being entertained.1963, Scholastic Voice, volume 34, page 14. From the entry magic box
  • Besides the ball game, five carefully picked acts will entertain the crowd at halftime.1960 March 30, “Thursday Attraction Star-Studded . . .: Entertaining ‘Sports’ Evening In Store For Globetrotter Fans”, in The Sheboygan…. From the entry rebound-tumbler
  • Bernstein's original gifts that this reviewer entertains towards his genius as an executant and an interpreter.1944 February 19, Virgil Thomson, edited by Tim Page, Virgil Thomson: Music Chronicles 1940–1954, published 2014, →ISBN. From the entry sure-handed
  • We entertained each other with exhibitions of schuhplattlers and big apples!1938 October, The Ski Bulletin, volume 9, Boston, Mass., →OCLC, page 8, columns 1–2. From the entry schuhplattler
  • That is a freehanded mortgage, and with respect to it various views are entertained.1935, The Wage-earner's Life Insurance - Volume 11, page 294. From the entry freehanded
  • Bunter entertained a hope of convincing Quelch that he hadn't been in the study at all.1934, Frank Richards, The Magnet: Kidnapped from the Air. From the entry Ananias
  • The Yü Shê County official is being entertained in our hospital at the present time.[1924 May, “China Notes for February: Liao Chou”, in The Missionary Visitor, volume XXVI, number 5, →OCLC, page 143. From the entry Yushe
  • Wood, and was entertained here—wined, dined, tead, breakfasted, coffeed and luncheoned—and we bought his pictures.1909, The Public, page 109. From the entry tea

Meaning of entertain

  1. verb To amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.
  2. verb To have someone over at one's home, or some other venue, for a party or visit.
  3. verb To receive and take into consideration; to have a thought in mind.

Full definition of entertain

Questions about entertain in a sentence

How do you use entertain in a sentence?
Entertain is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The motivational speaker not only instructed but also entertained the audience.”
What is a short sentence with entertain?
“to entertain a proposal”
What does entertain mean?
Entertain means to amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: entertain (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use entertain in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/entertain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.