have the pleasure

verb

Used as a polite formula to ask for a person's name, or to request that they join one in a dance, etc.

“May I have the pleasure of this dance?”

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Meanings

verbhave the pleasure (third-person singular simple present has the pleasure, present participle having the pleasure, simple past and past participle had the pleasure)

present singular third person has the pleasure · participle present having the pleasure · participle past had the pleasure · past had the pleasure

  1. Used as a polite formula to ask for a person's name, or to request that they join one in a dance, etc.

    May I have the pleasure of this dance?

    5 more examples

    May I have the pleasure? [ = an offer to dance]

    May I have the pleasure of your company on the dance floor?

    I'm sorry, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure. [ = I don't recall having met you or having been introduced to you before]

    I'm sorry, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you yet.

    Might I have the pleasure of introducing you to Master Lerris. In addition to being probably the best woodcrafter in Kyphros, he is also the gray wizard who defeated the Hydlenese white wizard […]

    2010, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., The Death of Chaos
Cite this entry
APA

have the pleasure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20the%20pleasure

MLA

“have the pleasure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20the%20pleasure. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have the pleasure,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20the%20pleasure.

Source: have the pleasure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.