Definition of AMIABLE

Other Words from amiable

amiability \ ˌā-mē-ə-ˈbi-lə-tē

\ noun

amiableness \ ˈā-mē-ə-bəl-nəs

\ noun

amiably \ -blē

\ adverb

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

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").

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 father, Gabe Wilson (played by Winston Duke), is an amiable doof; Adelaide, the mother (played by Lupita Nyong’o, who owns this film), is edgy, haunted by memories of something that happened to her at a local funhouse as a girl. — Taylor Antrim, Vogue, "Does Jordan Peele’s Us Live Up to Get Out?," 21 Mar. 2019 With a body like a shopping cart and a face that vaguely resembles Wall-E, Serve looks intentionally amiable. — Liz Stinson, Curbed, "Postmates’ new autonomous robot wants to deliver your sushi," 17 Dec. 2018 The amiable 34-year-old with the big beard and bigger heart hustled hard to make a living, said his dear friend Tina Furr. — Ronnie Polaneczky, Philly.com, "Admit it, Philly: Protected bike lanes would've saved Pablo Avendano | Ronnie Polaneczky," 15 May 2018 This new musical based on the film of the same name never quite lifts off, though Paul Scott Goodman’s soft rock pop score has amiable if not memorable moments. — SFChronicle.com, "Theater capsule reviews and listings, week of July 1," 28 June 2018 In this amiable insider’s account of the Obama years, Rhodes traces his intellectual evolution as a key adviser to the president. — New York Times, "9 New Books We Recommend This Week," 28 June 2018 The article outlined a timeline of conversations and photo opportunities and portrayed an amiable rapport between Trump and Kim. — Thomas Maresca, USA TODAY, "North Korea's state media hails 'epoch-making' Trump-Kim summit," 13 June 2018 Johnson is his usual amiable self, but the best thing about the movie is Campbell. — Bill Goodykoontz, azcentral, "'Skyscraper:' Big, dumb and kind of fun, thanks to Dwayne Johnson and Neve Campbell," 12 July 2018 Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping enjoyed an amiable summit nearly a year ago at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. — Ken Thomas And Paul Wiseman, Houston Chronicle, "Trump orders huge tariffs on China, raises trade war worries," 22 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'amiable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.