personal

[ pur-suh-nl ]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or coming as from a particular person; individual; private:

   a personal opinion.

2. relating to, directed to, or intended for a particular person:

   a personal favor; one's personal life; a letter marked “Personal.”

3. intended for use by one person:

   a personal car.

4. referring or directed to a particular person in a disparaging or offensive sense or manner, usually involving character, behavior, appearance, etc.:

   personal remarks.

5. making personal remarks or attacks:

   to become personal in a dispute.

6. done, carried out, held, etc., in person:

   a personal interview.

7. pertaining to or characteristic of a person or self-conscious being:

   That is my personal belief.

8. of the nature of an individual rational being.
9. pertaining to the body, clothing, or appearance:

   personal cleanliness.

10. provided for one's discretionary use:

    Employees are allowed 15 vacation days and two personal days.

11. Grammar.
    1. noting person:

       In Latin portō “I carry,” -ō is a personal ending.

    2. of, relating to, or characteristic of the personal pronoun, as English I, we, you, he, she, it, and they .
12. Law. of or relating to personal property:

    personal interests.

noun

1. 1. a short news paragraph in a newspaper concerning a particular person, as one who is socially prominent, or a group of particular persons who are socially prominent.
   2. a brief, private notice in a newspaper or magazine, often addressed to a particular person, and typically bearing an abbreviated salutation and signature to preserve its confidentiality, usually printed in a special part of the classified advertising section.
   3. Also called personal ad. a similar notice, as in a newspaper or on a website, placed by a person seeking companionship, a spouse, etc.
   4. Usually personals. a column, page, or section, as of a newspaper, magazine, or website, featuring such notices or items.

personal

/ ˈpɜːsənəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the private aspects of a person's life

   personal letters

   a personal question

2. prenominal of or relating to a person's body, its care, or its appearance

   great personal beauty

   personal hygiene

3. belonging to or intended for a particular person and no-one else

   as a personal favour

   for your personal use

4. prenominal undertaken by an individual himself

   a personal appearance by a celebrity

5. referring to, concerning, or involving a person's individual personality, intimate affairs, etc, esp in an offensive way

   personal remarks

   don't be so personal

6. having the attributes of an individual conscious being

   a personal God

7. of or arising from the personality

   personal magnetism

8. of, relating to, or denoting grammatical person
9. See real
   law of or relating to movable property, such as money Compare real 1

noun

1. law an item of movable property

Other Words From

• person·al·ness noun
• hyper·person·al adjective
• hyper·person·al·ly adverb
• multi·person·al adjective
• non·person·al adjective
• non·person·al·ly adverb
• quasi-person·al adjective
• quasi-person·al·ly adverb
• super·person·al adjective
• super·person·al·ly adverb
• un·person·al adjective
• un·person·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of personal¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Late Latin word persōnālis. See person, -al ¹

Example Sentences

I explained in personal detail the demise I was experiencing.

From Essence.com

The data above are consistent with previous surveys about location and personal data sharing among smartphone owners.

From Search Engine Land

Seeing someone advocate for a brand or products that they’re using is an incredibly personal form of marketing.

From Search Engine Watch

Find the one thing that Israel doesn’t have an answer to, doesn’t know how to manage and can’t get rid of, and make it your own personal vanity project.

From Ozy

Several claim that they were only cited because an officer took personal offense to something they’d said — usually about police and sometimes just quietly to themselves.

From Voice of San Diego

The email appears to have been a relatively common attempt to gain personal information from a wide range of unwitting victims.

From The Daily Beast

And, as Gow adds wryly from his own personal experience, “To a huge extent they achieved that aim very well.”

From The Daily Beast

Michael Steinbrick, a personal trainer with New York Sports Clubs, says he can always spot a newbie.

From The Daily Beast

Marrying another Jew was not just a personal simcha (joy), but one for the community.

From The Daily Beast

It was hard not to take it as a sign, a personal comment on my own Jewish dating failings.

From The Daily Beast

The feeling for the tiny things probably has in it the warmth of a young personal sympathy.

From Project Gutenberg

Make a personal appeal to your men and Godley's to make a supreme effort to hold their ground.

From Project Gutenberg

The same two impulses are said to lie at the root of the elaborate art of personal adornment developed by savages.

From Project Gutenberg

One of the lower and mixed forms of artistic activity, in the case of the child and of the race alike, is personal adornment.

From Project Gutenberg

He respected her courage and obvious power to rise above the personal attitude of her sex.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• intimate
• particular
• secret
• special