1
: desire, inclination
wait upon his pleasure—
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare2
: a state of gratification
3
a
: sensual gratification
b
: frivolous amusement
4
: a source of delight or joy
pleasured; pleasuring
ˈplezh-riŋ 
ˈplāzh-;
ˈple-zhə-,
ˈplā-
Synonyms
Examples of pleasure in a Sentence
Noun
I paint for the sheer pleasure of it.
His grandparents took great pleasure in seeing him graduate from college.
Is this trip for business or pleasure?
It is a special pleasure for me to be here with you today.
Now I can enjoy the simple pleasures of life, like spending time with my family.
Verb
a wine that is sure to pleasure even the most discriminating palate
Recent Examples on the WebKorin Miller, Verywell Health, 10 Apr. 2024
The eight-episode season exists in a vivid and captivating universe that will be familiar to gamers — though knowledge of the franchise isn't required to enjoy its darkly comic dystopian pleasures.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2024
Khloé Kardashian is enjoying life's simple pleasures!
—Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024
Worsening chronic pain transformed getting dressed from a pleasure to a fraught challenge.
—Caroline Reilly, SELF, 4 Apr. 2024
Yet the movie, aesthetically as lumpy as a latke, nonetheless has a weird and lurid vigor that comes from an altogether different source: Allen’s pleasure in his own imagination—his delight in inventing the plot.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
Yet the Englishman gets no pleasure out of plundering, even when there are bigger paydays on the horizon.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 30 Mar. 2024
But their pleasure in finding each other still feels new.
—Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Our success has come from providing individualized financial solutions, putting a high value on client pleasure and leveraging data insights to further develop and fortify connections.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 3 Mar. 2024
Why this is nuts: Nothing, beside the lingering image that the two geezers are going to get wasted and then pleasure themselves.
—Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 21 Nov. 2023
Motherhood changed my relationship to thrill-seeking, to pleasure.
—Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 27 Sep. 2023
Read the full Sagittarius Daily Horoscope Capricorn (December 21 - January 19)
Making play and pleasure your priority?
—USA TODAY, 5 Sep. 2023
In this sketch, Thede plays a woman visiting her childhood home over the holidays who attempts to pleasure herself without judgment from the photo of her grandparents on the bedside table or the stare of her old plush bear.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 22 Aug. 2023
Self-medicating by eating is all in the same wheelhouse of that behavior, a cycle of risk, reward, risk, reward, pleasure me, pleasure me.
—Kyle Buchanan, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2023
What poured out of Fisher and Gage was a raucous comedy about a happy-ending masseuse hired to pleasure a deeply repressed blue blood who has spent his life feigning heterosexuality.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2023
In which a scientist gets female volunteers to pleasure themselves in an fMRI scanner, bound by restraints.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2010
Noun
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder in which someone has a depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities for at least two weeks.
—Korin Miller, Verywell Health, 10 Apr. 2024
The eight-episode season exists in a vivid and captivating universe that will be familiar to gamers — though knowledge of the franchise isn't required to enjoy its darkly comic dystopian pleasures.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2024
Khloé Kardashian is enjoying life's simple pleasures!
—Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024
Worsening chronic pain transformed getting dressed from a pleasure to a fraught challenge.
—Caroline Reilly, SELF, 4 Apr. 2024
Yet the movie, aesthetically as lumpy as a latke, nonetheless has a weird and lurid vigor that comes from an altogether different source: Allen’s pleasure in his own imagination—his delight in inventing the plot.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
Yet the Englishman gets no pleasure out of plundering, even when there are bigger paydays on the horizon.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 30 Mar. 2024
But their pleasure in finding each other still feels new.
—Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Our success has come from providing individualized financial solutions, putting a high value on client pleasure and leveraging data insights to further develop and fortify connections.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
This device pleasures your clit at the same time with three vibration intensities and seven patterns.
—Jennifer Hussein, Allure, 3 Mar. 2024
Why this is nuts: Nothing, beside the lingering image that the two geezers are going to get wasted and then pleasure themselves.
—Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 21 Nov. 2023
Motherhood changed my relationship to thrill-seeking, to pleasure.
—Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 27 Sep. 2023
Read the full Sagittarius Daily Horoscope Capricorn (December 21 - January 19)
Making play and pleasure your priority?
—USA TODAY, 5 Sep. 2023
In this sketch, Thede plays a woman visiting her childhood home over the holidays who attempts to pleasure herself without judgment from the photo of her grandparents on the bedside table or the stare of her old plush bear.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 22 Aug. 2023
Self-medicating by eating is all in the same wheelhouse of that behavior, a cycle of risk, reward, risk, reward, pleasure me, pleasure me.
—Kyle Buchanan, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2023
What poured out of Fisher and Gage was a raucous comedy about a happy-ending masseuse hired to pleasure a deeply repressed blue blood who has spent his life feigning heterosexuality.
—Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 11 Mar. 2023
In which a scientist gets female volunteers to pleasure themselves in an fMRI scanner, bound by restraints.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2010
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pleasure.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pleasure
Cite this Entry
“Pleasure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pleasure. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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