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pleasure

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A person, thing or action that causes enjoyment.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

plehzher

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈplɛʒɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. countable

    A person, thing or action that causes enjoyment.

  2. Sexual gratification

    “He took his pleasure of her.”

  3. An activity that affords enjoyment

  4. uncountable

    Sexual enjoyment.

  5. formaluncountable

    The will or desire of someone or some agency in power.

  6. uncountable

    A state of being pleased or contented; gratification.

verb

  1. transitive

    To give or afford pleasure to.

  2. transitive

    To give sexual pleasure to.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A person, thing or action that causes enjoyment.

Used this way, pleasure is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • pleasance , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use pleasure

  • “He took his pleasure of her.”noun
  • “He serves at the pleasure of the President.”noun
  • “He was tingling with pleasure.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

sexual pleasurepleasure principlegreat pleasuretake pleasure

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • pleasure craftnounCompound term

    A large motorboat that has a cabin and plumbing and other conveniences necessary for living on board.

  • pleasure groundnounCompound term

    A commercially operated park with stalls and shows for amusement.

  • pleasure-pain principlenounCompound term

    The governing principle of the id.

  • pleasure principlenounCompound term

    The governing principle of the id.

  • pleasure seekernounCompound term

    Someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures.

  • pleasure tripnounCompound term

    A journey taken for pleasure.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: person or thing or action that causes enjoyment

pleasanceRare

verb

Sense: to give or afford pleasure to

delight

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.