gregarious

adjective gre·gar·i·ous \ gri-ˈger-ē-əs \

|Updated on: 18 Jul 2018

Examples: gregarious in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of gregarious

1 a : tending to associate with others of one's kind : social

gregarious animals

b : marked by or indicating a liking for companionship : sociable

is friendly, outgoing, and gregarious

c : of or relating to a social group

2 a of a plant : growing in a cluster or a colony

b : living in contiguous nests but not forming a true colony —used especially of wasps and bees

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gregariously

adverb

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gregariousness

noun

See gregarious defined for English-language learners

See gregarious defined for kids

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Examples of gregarious in a Sentence

[J.P.] Morgan was attracted to bright, self-possessed women who met him on his own ground, felt at home in society, and shared his gregarious instincts and sybaritic tastes. —Jean Strouse, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 1999
… the gregarious trade unionist whose back-slapping mateyness helped make him Australia's most popular politician. —Time, 3 Apr. 1989
As it is a night of many parties, the more social, the more gregarious, the more invited of the guests are wondering whether to go to Harley Street first, or whether to arrive there later, after sampling other offerings. —Margaret Drabble, Harper's, July 1987
She is outgoing and gregarious.
a gregarious child who ran up to every person on the playground and wanted to be their friend

Recent Examples of gregarious from the Web

Food articles often feature gregarious hosts with platters full of crowd-pleasing goodies, recipes to feed six (or more), or elaborate desserts to wow invading relatives.

— jennifer rude klett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Table for 1: For solo diners, cooking at home offers many perks," 12 July 2018
Fun-loving and gregarious, Gerry loved coaching and sponsoring neighborhood football/baseball teams and treating the players to pizza following games.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Gerald B. Brown," 8 July 2018
Others trapped at the site included Duangpetch Promthep, or Dom, the Wild Boars’ gregarious captain, who turned 14 on Sunday.

— jake maxwell watts, WSJ, "Four Boys Rescued From Flooded Thai Cave," 8 July 2018
Visitors with food cups are quickly immersed in a phalanx of gregarious deer.

— roger naylor, azcentral, "Arizona road trip: Williams has Route 66, Bearizona and cool summer fun," 15 June 2018
Her social media posts show a gregarious, happy teen who loves posing for pictures with friends and family and making videos set to music.

— tim evans, Indianapolis Star, "13-year-old victim in Noblesville school shooting in critical condition, police say," 25 May 2018
His devotees are less like fans than members of a colorful cult of gregarious fun-lovers.

— bill brownlee, kansascity, "Maiden voyage of sailor-themed Jimmy Buffett tour is a pleasure cruise in Kansas City | The Kansas City Star," 20 May 2018
His gregarious personality and lust for life will be remembered by all who knew him.

— Sun-Sentinel.com, "Deaths in South Florida: 6/12," 12 June 2018
But the new cartoon Daniel Tiger is a gregarious cub always up for a fun playdate and a good song.

— david g. allan, CNN, "Mister Rogers, television's polite radical," 8 June 2018

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

Did You Know?

When you're one of the herd, it's tough to avoid being social. The etymology of gregarious reflects the social nature of the flock; in fact, the word grew out of the Latin noun grex, meaning "herd" or "flock." When it first began appearing in English texts in the 17th century, "gregarious" was applied mainly to animals, but by the 18th century it was being used for social human beings as well. By the way, "grex" gave English a whole flock of other words too, including "egregious," "aggregate," "congregate," and "segregate."

Origin and Etymology of gregarious

Latin gregarius of a flock or herd, from greg-, grex flock, herd

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1668

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

gregarious Synonyms

Other Botany Terms

annual, burgeon, chloroplast, nomenclature, succulent, sylvan, xylem

GREGARIOUS Defined for English Language Learners

gregarious

adjective

Definition of gregarious for English Language Learners

: enjoying the company of other people
biology : tending to live in groups

GREGARIOUS Defined for Kids

gregarious

adjective gre·gar·i·ous \ gri-ˈger-ē-əs \

Definition of gregarious for Students

1 : enjoying the company of other people

2 : tending to live in a flock, herd, or community rather than alone

gregarious insects

Word Root of gregarious

The Latin word grex, meaning “flock,”and its form gregis give us the root greg. Words from the Latin grex have something to do with flocks or groups. Anyone gregarious, or social, enjoys being part of the flock. To congregate is to gather as a flock or crowd. To segregate is to separate away from others or away from the flock.