John Milton
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Warm, cheerful, and pleasant? That’s genial in a bottle, baby. Or at least (if such a declaration rubs you the wrong way) that’s the most common sense of genial. You may also be familiar with its closely related meaning of “favorable to growth or comfort” as in “what a girl wants most on vacation is to recline in the genial sunshine.” Or perhaps you’ve heard genial used to describe someone or something displaying or marked by genius, as in “who among us doesn’t appreciate genial insights embedded in a beautiful pop song”? After all, both genial and genius share an ancestor in the Latin word genius, meaning “a person’s disposition or inclination.” There are also older, now-obsolete senses of genial. When it first entered English from the Latin adjective genialis (“connected with marriage”) it shared that word’s matrimonial meaning. And at one time genial was also a synonym of native or inborn, describing things (such as musical talent) present or seemingly present in someone from birth.
Examples of genial in a Sentence
Caity Weaver, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
Season five, debuting this week, settles right into its usual rhythms, opening in the aftermath of last year’s finale and the surprise death of Lester (Teddy Coluca), the Arconia’s genial doorman since season one.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2025
Unlike the often shy, overly genial guy who used to disappear into the background of Second City ensemble scenes, Johnny was brash, bold, a guy who had the city in his back pocket.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
Bailey, usually genial with the media, declined an interview through his state office.
—Jason Rosenbaum, NPR, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for genial
Cite this Entry
“Genial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genial. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
genial
adjective
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