amiable

adjective

ami·​a·​ble ˈā-mē-ə-bəl How to pronounce amiable (audio)
1
a
: friendly, sociable, and congenial
an amiable host
amiable neighbors
b
: generally agreeable
an amiable comedy
2
archaic : pleasing, admirable
amiability noun
amiableness noun
amiably adverb

Did you know?

The Roots of Amiable Go Back to Love

Amiable derives from the Late Latin adjective amicabilis, meaning "friendly," which in turn comes from the Latin word for "friend" and can ultimately be traced back to amare, meaning "to love." When amiable was adopted into English in the 14th century, it meant "pleasing" or "admirable," but that sense is now obsolete. The current, familiar senses of "generally agreeable" ("an amiable movie") 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").

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 Tom Shadyac’s amiable classic excels in giving Carrey a reason for his on-screen mania, something too many of his other vehicles failed to do. EW.com, 2 Mar. 2024 But Cera, who doesn’t have a smartphone and avoids social media, still comes across as open, amiable and devoid of Hollywood hubris. Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2024 Are there both advantages and disadvantages of being an amiable leader in the context of steering a business and team? Some of the advantages of being an amicable leader are irrefutable and well-documented. Marian Evans, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 That falls more into the tradition of domestic marital comedy, post-union, with its hints of amiable friction and give-and-take after years together. Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Feb. 2024 The film concerns young Josh (Winslow Fegley), who moves to New York City and discovers an amiable croc in the attic with the voice of Shawn Mendes. Danny Horn, EW.com, 31 Jan. 2024 Dean and John, the latter an amiable man with a background in scouting, can bask in having hired him. Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Feb. 2024 These insiders also described a terrifying dark side to the charismatic, outwardly amiable actor. Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2024 In the closing minutes of the interview — which remained amiable for its hour and 15-minute run time — Noah made a friendly but pointed observation that Altman’s firing paralleled the job losses a lot of people fear his technology will bring about at a societal scale. Brian Contreras, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'amiable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of amiable was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Amiable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amiable. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

amiable

adjective
ami·​a·​ble ˈā-mē-ə-bəl How to pronounce amiable (audio)
: generally agreeable : having a friendly and pleasant manner
an amiable comedy
amiability noun
amiableness noun
amiably adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on amiable

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