amiable

adjective

ami·​a·​ble ˈā-mē-ə-bəl 

1

a

: friendly, sociable, and congenial

an amiable host

amiable neighbors

b

: generally agreeable

an amiable comedy

2

archaic : pleasing, admirable

amiability

ˌā-mē-ə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

amiableness

ˈā-mē-ə-bəl-nəs 

noun

amiably

ˈā-mē-ə-blē 

adverb

Did you know?

The Roots of Amiable Go Back to Love

Amiable has its roots in amīcus the Latin word for "friend," and can ultimately be traced back to the verb amare, meaning "to love." English has been friendly with amiable since the 14th century, at which time it meant "pleasing" or "admirable" (a sense that is now obsolete). The current, familiar senses of "generally agreeable" and "friendly and sociable" came centuries later. Amare has also given English speakers such words as amative and amorous (both meaning "strongly moved by love"), amour ("a usually illicit love affair"), and even amateur (which originally meant "admirer"). And that’s just the tip of the amare iceberg: its influence on Romance languages is nothing short of integral. The Spanish word for "friendship" is amistad, the French word for "friend" is ami, and the Italian word for "love"? That’s amore.

Synonyms

• affable
• agreeable
• genial
• good-natured
• good-tempered
• gracious
• mellow
• nice
• pleasant
• sweet
• well-disposed

Choose the Right Synonym for amiable

amiable, good-natured, obliging, complaisant mean having the desire or disposition to please.

amiable implies having qualities that make one liked and easy to deal with.

an amiable teacher not easily annoyed

good-natured implies cheerfulness or helpfulness and sometimes a willingness to be imposed upon.

a good-natured girl who was always willing to pitch in

obliging stresses a friendly readiness to be helpful.

our obliging innkeeper found us a bigger room

complaisant often implies passivity or a yielding to others because of weakness.

was too complaisant to protest a decision he thought unfair

Examples of amiable in a Sentence

… an amiable man, a gray-headed, fiftyish, good old boy with a long career in media and public relations, and a hellish taste for margaritas … —Denis Johnson, Rolling Stone, 17 Aug. 2000

These strained plot contortions aren't really necessary: the funny, amiable heart of the movie is in the scenes of these tough old duffers scamming their way through the training program. —David Ansen, Newsweek, 14 Aug. 2000

The book pivots around Molly Bonner, an amiable, 40-ish woman whose second husband has just died in a helicopter accident, leaving her grief-struck and rich. —Tad Friend, Vogue, March 1997

Gianni Versace is an amiable smoothy with a light touch and a corona of gray hair. —Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair, January 1997

Everyone knew him as an amiable fellow.

She had an amiable conversation with her friend.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Spa is Worth the Whole Trip To begin, step into a world like no other at the Chuan Spa, where you’ll be greeted by amiable and accommodating staff who will assist in creating a soothing experience for you during your time here. —Wendy Altschuler, Forbes, 29 Sep. 2024

But Brown turns out to be an amiable businessman who identified a market inefficiency. —Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2024

The amiable fire chief, who coos to a station dog named Vasia, is not alone in his pessimism. —Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Nov. 2024

Each of the first two episodes of this amiable little legal dramedy has suddenly and unexpectedly ratcheted up the suspense in its final minutes. —Noel Murray, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English amyable, borrowed from Anglo-French amiable, going back to Late Latin amīcābilis, from Latin amīcus "personal friend, lover, friend in public life, partisan" or amīcāre "to make friendly to oneself, propitiate" (derivative of amīcus) + -bilis "capable (of acting) or worthy (of being acted upon)"; Latin amīcus, noun derivative of amīcus, adjective, "friendly, well-disposed, loving, devoted," derivative of amāre "to feel affection for, love" — more at amateur, -able

Note: A predecessor *ama-ikos, from a stative verb *ama-ē-, is suggested by P. Schrijver (The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, Rodopi, 1991, p. 399), following a proposal by D. Steinbauer (Etymologische Untersuchungen zu den bei Plautus belegten Verben der lateinischen ersten Konjugation, Altendorf, 1989, pp. 131-32). This would seem to be supported by the inscriptional form ameicus (unless it is an inverted spelling) and the form amecus cited by the grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus. M. Weiss, on the other hand, proposes a "deinstrumental" origin from an adverbial base *amī- "with love," in Indo-European terms *h₂m̥h₃ih₁- (see Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, Ann Arbor, 2009, p. 296).

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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Kids Definition

amiable

adjective

ami·​a·​ble ˈā-mē-ə-bəl 

: generally agreeable : having a friendly and pleasant manner

an amiable comedy

amiability

ˌā-mē-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē 

noun

amiableness

ˈā-mē-ə-bəl-nəs 

noun

amiably

-blē 

adverb