pleasure

[ plezh-er ]
/ ˈplɛʒ ər /

noun

verb (used with object), pleas·ured, pleas·ur·ing.

to give pleasure to; gratify; please.

verb (used without object), pleas·ured, pleas·ur·ing.

to take pleasure; delight: I pleasure in your company.
to seek pleasure, as by taking a holiday.

Origin of pleasure

1325–75; late Middle English (see please, -ure); replacing Middle English plaisir < Middle French (noun use of infinitive) < Latin placēre to please

SYNONYMS FOR pleasure

1 happiness, gladness, delectation. Pleasure, enjoyment, delight, joy refer to the feeling of being pleased and happy. Pleasure is the general term: to take pleasure in beautiful scenery. Enjoyment is a quiet sense of well-being and pleasurable satisfaction: enjoyment at sitting in the shade on a warm day. Delight is a high degree of pleasure, usually leading to active expression of it: delight at receiving a hoped-for letter. Joy is a feeling of delight so deep and so lasting that one radiates happiness and expresses it spontaneously: joy at unexpected good news.
5 voluptuousness.
8 preference, wish, inclination, predilection.

OTHER WORDS FROM pleasure

pleas·ure·ful, adjective pleas·ure·less, adjective pleas·ure·less·ly, adverb an·ti·pleas·ure, noun, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for pleasure

British Dictionary definitions for pleasure

pleasure
/ (ˈplɛʒə) /

noun

an agreeable or enjoyable sensation or emotion the pleasure of hearing good music
something that gives or affords enjoyment or delight his garden was his only pleasure
  1. amusement, recreation, or enjoyment
  2. (as modifier)a pleasure boat; pleasure ground
euphemistic sexual gratification or enjoyment he took his pleasure of her
a person's preference or choice

verb

(when intr, often foll by in) to give pleasure to or take pleasure (in)

Derived forms of pleasure

pleasureful, adjective pleasureless, adjective

Word Origin for pleasure

C14 plesir, from Old French; related to Old French plaisir to please