amiable

adjective

ami·a·ble ˈā-mē-ə-bəl

Synonyms of amiable next

: friendly, sociable, and congenial

an amiable host

amiable neighbors

: generally agreeable

an amiable comedy

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 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

Example Sentences

… 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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web Early in the third quarter Sunday, while the Clippers were mucking around and losing against a bunch of wild kids from Houston, the cheers from their generally amiable fan base were interrupted by an outlier. —

Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2023 Warren’s warm and amiable, paired with the song’s smooth production, should make this track at home on any number of country and pop playlists. —

Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 13 Jan. 2023 Finally, however, the lively and amiable spirit of the endeavor converts our inner curmudgeon just as the spirit of Christmas eventually overpowered that larcenous Grinch, played by Jim Carrey. —

Los Angeles Times, Anchorage Daily News, 24 Dec. 2022 Finally, however, the lively and amiable spirit of the endeavor converts our inner curmudgeon just as the spirit of Christmas eventually overpowered that larcenous Grinch, played by Jim Carrey. —

Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2022 Harriet finds most of her current co-workers amiable, except her partner, Det. —

Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2023 Copeland, a hell of an amiable guy, is resting in between some national-tour dates as a symphony-orchestra composer. —

Vulture, 16 Mar. 2022 Stephens’ ever-amiable presence and still-powerhouse drumming are a big part of the draw for many of the musicians. —

Chris Willman, Variety, 5 Nov. 2022 The chemistry between Roberts and Clooney is perfunctory, blandly amiable, and the stars never get to cut loose. —

Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2022 See More

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.

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).