affability

American  

[af-uh-bil-i-tee] / ˌæf əˈbɪl ɪ ti /

Rarely affableness

noun

1. the quality of being pleasantly easy to approach and talk to; friendliness or warm politeness.

   Her affability and good nature endear her to all those acquainted with her, and put at ease anyone meeting her for the first time.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unaffableness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of affability

First recorded in 1450–1500; from Middle French affabilité, from Latin affābilitāt-, stem of affābilitās, equivalent to affābil(is) “that can be spoken to, courteous” ( see affable ( def. )) + -itās -ity ( def. )

Explanation

Affability is the quality of being easy to talk to. If you walk into a party smiling and generally seeming up for whatever, your affability will draw people to you. Affability and intelligence will get you far in this world! To be affable is to be friendly and good-natured. The quality itself is called affability. Smiling and making jokes shows affability, and so does being friendly to strangers. Someone who tends to get along with everyone and has many friends has affability. In the Old French, it was affabilité, from the Latin root affabilis, for "approachable, courteous, or kind," and literally means "can be easily spoken to."

Example Sentences

Kindness was the Motive of his Actions, and with all the   Capacity requisite for making a Figure in a contentious World,   Moderation, Good-Nature, Affability, Temperance and Chastity, were the   Arts of his Excellent Life.

From The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Addison, Joseph

Affability appeals to me wherever I find it, and if Betsy Chambers isn't affable, then I don't know the meaning of the term.

From The Man Who Drove the Car by Pemberton, Max, Sir

But, unable long to preserve it upright from its weight, the sooty end fell on Master Snapper's book, who was reading a little work upon "Affability."

From Young Folks Treasury, Volume 3 (of 12) Classic Tales and Old-Fashioned Stories by Mabie, Hamilton Wright

Affability in conversation; temper, art, and eloquence in debate; penetration and discernment in counsel; industry, vigilance, and enterprise in action; all these praises are unanimously ascribed to him by historians of the most opposite parties.

From The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part E. From Charles I. to Cromwell by Hume, David

Affability, that is to say, the desire of pleasing men, which is determined by reason, is related to piety.

From The Philosophy of Spinoza by Ratner, Joseph