Adjacent Words

Amiable definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

A'MIABLE, a. [L. amabilis; from amo, to love.]
1. Lovely; worth of love; deserving of affection; applied usually to persons. But in Psa
84:1, there is an exception, "How amiable are the tabernacles, O Lord."
2. Pretending or showing love.
Lay amiable siege to the honesty of this Ford's wife.
But this use is not legitimate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: disposed to please; "an amiable villain with a cocky sidelong grin"- Hal Hinson [syn: amiable, good- humored, good-humoured]
2: diffusing warmth and friendliness; "an affable smile"; "an amiable gathering"; "cordial relations"; "a cordial greeting"; "a genial host" [syn: affable, amiable, cordial, genial]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin amicabilis friendly, from Latin amicus friend; akin to Latin amare to love Date: 14th century 1. archaic pleasing, admirable 2. a. generally agreeable <an amiable comedy> b. being friendly, sociable, and congenial • amiability noun • amiableness noun • amiably adverb Synonyms: 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>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. friendly and pleasant in temperament; likeable. Derivatives: amiability n. amiableness n. amiably adv. Etymology: ME f. OF f. LL amicabilis amicable: confused with F aimable lovable

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Amiable A"mi*a*ble, a. [F. amiable, L. amicabilis friendly, fr. amicus friend, fr. amare to love. The meaning has been influenced by F. aimable, L. amabilis lovable, fr. amare to love. Cf. Amicable, Amorous, Amability.] 1. Lovable; lovely; pleasing. [Obs. or R.] So amiable a prospect. --Sir T. Herbert. 2. Friendly; kindly; sweet; gracious; as, an amiable temper or mood; amiable ideas. 3. Possessing sweetness of disposition; having sweetness of temper, kind-heartedness, etc., which causes one to be liked; as, an amiable woman. 4. Done out of love. [Obs.] Lay an amiable siege to the honesty of this Ford's wife. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Someone who is amiable is friendly and pleasant to be with. (WRITTEN) = friendly ADJ • amiably We chatted amiably about old friends. ADV: ADV with v

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a'-mi-a-b'-l (yedhidh, "beloved"): Applied to the tabernacle or tent of meeting "How amiable ("lovely" the Revised Version, margin) are thy tabernacles" (Ps 84:1), the plural having reference to the subdivisions and appurtenances of the sanctuary (compare Ps 68:35). The adjective is rendered "amiable" in the sense of the French amiable, lovely; but the usage of the Hebrew word requires it to be understood as meaning "dear," "beloved." Compare "so amiable a prospect" (Sir T. Herbert), "They keep their churches so cleanly and amiable" (Howell, 1644). "What made the tabernacle of Moses lovely was not the outside, which was very mean, but what was within" (John Gill). See TABERNACLE.

M. O. Evans

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Lovable, lovely, sweet, engaging, charming, winning, winsome, attractive, benignant, benign, sweet-tempered, kind-hearted, tender-hearted, worthy of love, of excellent disposition.

Moby Thesaurus

accommodating, affable, affectionate, agreeable, amicable, approachable, benevolent, benign, benignant, blissful, bonhomous, brotherly, cheerful, civil, clubbable, clubbish, clubby, communicative, companionable, companionate, compatible, complaisant, compliant, congenial, cordial, courteous, decent, desirable, dulcet, easy, easy-natured, en rapport, enjoyable, fair, fair and pleasant, favorable, felicific, felicitous, fine, fit for society, fond of society, fraternal, friendlike, friendly, generous, genial, gentle, good, good-hearted, good-humored, good-natured, good-tempered, goodly, gracious, grateful, gratifying, gregarious, harmonious, heart-warming, hearty, honeyed, hospitable, indulgent, kind, kindly, lenient, liberal, likable, mannerly, mellifluous, mellow, mild, neighborlike, neighborly, nice, obliging, open, openhearted, overindulgent, overpermissive, peaceable, permissive, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, pleasure-giving, pleasureful, receptive, responsive, rewarding, satisfying, simpatico, sisterly, sociable, social, social-minded, sweet, sweet-tempered, sympathique, tractable, unhostile, urbane, warm, warmhearted, welcome, welcoming, well-affected, well-disposed, well-intentioned, well-meaning, well-meant, well-natured, winning, winsome