Word of the Day

: December 22, 2006

gregarious

adjective grih-GAIR-ee-us

What It Means

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

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

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

gregarious in Context

Michael's gregarious nature made him popular with students of all different stripes at school.

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."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.