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Regale has been an English verb since the early half of the 1600s, having been adapted from the French word régaler. That word traces back to the Middle French verb galer, which means “to have a good time.” (Gala, meaning “a festive celebration,” is from the same source.) Today, regale still applies when someone is entertaining or amusing another, especially by sharing stories. Regale also sometimes functions as a noun meaning “a sumptuous feast.” An early use of the noun appears in the preface to a 1732 dramatic poem by George Granville: “An English stomach … will rise hungry from a regale of nothing but sweet-meats.”
Examples of regale in a Sentence
Judy Berman, Time, 15 Sep. 2025
Her mother, an enslaved woman whose name is lost to history, had been a storyteller, too, regaling the girl with folktales on the Maryland plantation where she was born in the mid-nineteenth century.
—April White, JSTOR Daily, 15 Sep. 2025
Appel also regaled the audience with his strategy that resulted in Springsteen getting on the cover of both Time and Newsweek.
—Caryn Rose, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
The 21-time PGA Tour winner engaged a small group on a practice green, going over technique, drills and flatstick psychology while also regaling them with stories about golf greats—like how keeping an eye on the hole helped Beth Daniel transform her putting game.
—Mike Dojc, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for regale
Cite this Entry
“Regale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regale. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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