infotainment
noun
Did you know?
Infotainment, a blend of "information" and "entertainment," first appeared in the early 1980s. Not everyone approves of "infotainment" and similar pieced-together, media-derived words (e.g., "infomercial" and "edutainment"), however. New York Times Magazine writer Joe Morgenstern referred to "infotainment" as "a plastic word, stuck together with show-biz epoxy." An editorialist for a New England newspaper called it "a nauseating word" that "has crept into the language without an invitation." Unfortunately for such detractors, the word continues to be used today. Not only that, but a new, distinct sense of the word is emerging. People in the automotive industry have recently begun using "infotainment" to refer to the state-of-the-art multimedia technologies (such as GPS systems and Internet radio) now available to drivers at the push of a button.
Examples of infotainment in a Sentence
New Atlas, 31 July 2025
Materials are well-appointed with leather and Alcantara throughout, a comfortable sports car driving position, and a center infotainment screen that’s small and out of the way.
—Peter Nelson, Forbes.com, 31 July 2025
These apps can be integrated into the infotainment screens of your vehicle using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, allowing for user-friendly navigation in vehicles.
—Charles Singh, USA Today, 25 July 2025
Doing so reverts both the gauge cluster and infotainment screen to Aston's native UI, the former almost instantly and the latter just a few seconds later.
—Michael Teo Van Runkle, ArsTechnica, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for infotainment
Cite this Entry
“Infotainment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infotainment. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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