to receive pleasure from; take joy in to have the benefit of; use with satisfaction to have as a condition; experience: the land enjoyed a summer of rain - enjoy oneself ⇒
to have a good time
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
en•joy /ɛnˈdʒɔɪ/USA pronunciation
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- to take pleasure in;
experience with joy: [~ + object]The audience enjoyed the new opera.[~ + verb-ing]I enjoy walking from the train to school. - [~ + object] to have the benefit of;
have and use with satisfaction: They enjoy one of the world's highest standards of living. - [Informal.]to enjoy oneself:[no object* often in a suggestion]Here's your dinner; enjoy!
- Idioms enjoy oneself, to experience pleasure;
have a good time;
have fun:Did you enjoy yourself at the party?
- enjoy is a verb, enjoyable is an adjective, enjoyment is a noun:I enjoy old movies. Those days at the beach were enjoyable times. We shared a lot of enjoyment back then.
- The verb enjoy usually takes an object, except for the very informal use of definition 3, where it is often used as a request or suggestion; for this meaning, enjoy yourself is still more usual. Note also that enjoy may be followed by the -ing form of a verb:I enjoy hiking/running/walking, but not by the infinitive, or to + verb form. It differs therefore from like, a verb with similar meaning, which may take either the -ing form or the to + verb form.
en•joy
(en joi′),USA pronunciation v.t.
en•joy′er, n.
en•joy′ing•ly, adv.
- to experience with joy;
take pleasure in:He enjoys Chinese food. - to have and use with satisfaction;
have the benefit of:He enjoys an excellent income from his trust funds. - to find or experience pleasure for (oneself ):She seems to enjoy herself at everything she does.
- to undergo (an improvement):Automobile manufacturers have enjoyed a six-percent rise in sales over the past month.
- to have intercourse with.
- Old French enjoier to give joy to. See en-1, joy
- Middle English enjoyen to make joyful 1350–1400
en•joy′ing•ly, adv.
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged appreciate, fancy, relish, savor.
- 2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged possess, own.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'enjoying' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Amida
- Utopia
- adventurous
- beatification
- blissful
- bloodthirsty
- chattering classes
- clover
- commune
- cruel
- cruise
- deprive
- domestic
- down
- enjoyment
- favored
- free
- gentleman-commoner
- gregarious
- have
- healthy
- hearty
- intellectual
- jealousy
- legitimate
- luxurious
- meanwhile
- mirth
- municipality
- pitch
- preferential
- privilege
- privileged
- proprietor
- razzle
- roll
- sheltered
- social
- solitary
- stay-at-home
- usufruct