Meaning & use
enjoyable
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Giving you pleasure and making you feel happy; pleasant to do or experience.
Grammar: Used to describe activities, events or experiences, never people themselves. You can say 'an enjoyable evening' but not 'an enjoyable person'.
Patterns
- an enjoyable + noun (an enjoyable evening)
- find something enjoyable
- something is enjoyable to do
We had a really enjoyable afternoon at the beach.
The course was both informative and enjoyable.
I find cooking for friends very enjoyable.
Word forms
| comparative | more enjoyable |
|---|---|
| superlative | most enjoyable |
Common combinations
- highly enjoyable
- The concert was highly enjoyable from start to finish.
- thoroughly enjoyable
- It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip.
- find something enjoyable
- Many students find online learning enjoyable.
- an enjoyable experience
- Moving to a new city can be an enjoyable experience.
- make something enjoyable
- A good teacher can make even grammar enjoyable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pleasant
- Pleasant often describes something mildly nice and agreeable, while enjoyable suggests a stronger feeling of active pleasure and fun.
- fun
- Fun is more informal and often describes lively, playful activities; enjoyable can also describe calm or serious things like a good book.
- delightful
- Delightful is stronger and more literary than enjoyable, suggesting real delight or charm.
- entertaining
- Entertaining focuses on holding your interest and amusing you, while enjoyable simply means you get pleasure from it.
Opposites
Word family
- enjoy verb
- To get pleasure from something.
- enjoyment noun
- The feeling of pleasure you get from something.
- enjoyably adverb
- In a way that gives pleasure.
Commonly confused: enjoyable or enjoyed?
enjoyable vs enjoyed
Enjoyed is the past tense of the verb 'enjoy' (I enjoyed the film), while enjoyable is an adjective describing something that gives pleasure.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'enjoyable' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Enjoyable describes experiences, so 'The party was really enjoyable' is correct. Option An is wrong because we don't use enjoyable for people; option C uses an adjective where a verb is needed; option D mixes adjective and verb incorrectly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “enjoyable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.