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
Marc D Grasso, Hartford Courant, 19 Apr. 2025
In my experience, the infotainment system was responsive and provided good colors for an in-flight system.
—Prakhar Khanna, Forbes.com, 12 Apr. 2025
Pretty much everything else is shuffled off to the infotainment system, a single circular touchscreen that lives in the middle of the dash.
—ArsTechnica, 10 Apr. 2025
The infotainment system offers either a 10.25-inch or optional 12.3-inch display.
—Josh Max, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 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 24 Apr. 2025.
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