social

American  

[soh-shuhl] / ˈsoʊ ʃəl /

adjective

1. relating to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations.

   a social club.

2. seeking or enjoying the companionship of others; friendly; sociable; gregarious.

3. of, relating to, connected with, or suited to polite or fashionable society.

   a social event.

4. living or disposed to live in companionship with others or in a community, rather than in isolation.

   People are social beings.

5. of or relating to human society, especially as a body divided into classes according to status.

   social rank.

6. involved in many social activities.

   We're so busy working, we have to be a little less social now.

7. of or relating to the life, welfare, and relations of human beings in a community.

   social problems.

8. noting or relating to activities designed to remedy or alleviate certain unfavorable conditions of life in a community, especially among poor people.

9. relating to or advocating the theory or system of socialism.

10. Digital Technology. noting or relating to online technologies, activities, etc., that promote companionship or communication with friends and other personal contacts: the use of social software to share expertise.

    social websites such as Facebook;

    the use of social software to share expertise.

11. Zoology. living habitually together in communities, as bees or ants.

12. Botany. growing in patches or clumps.

13. Rare. occurring or taking place between allies or confederates.

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noun

• socials
  plural

1. a social gathering or party, especially of or as given by an organized group.

   a church social.

2. Digital Technology. social media.

   photos posted to social.

social British  

/ ˈsəʊʃəl /

adjective

1. living or preferring to live in a community rather than alone

2. denoting or relating to human society or any of its subdivisions

3. of, relating to, or characteristic of the experience, behaviour, and interaction of persons forming groups

4. relating to or having the purpose of promoting companionship, communal activities, etc

   a social club

5. relating to or engaged in social services

   a social worker

6. relating to or considered appropriate to a certain class of society, esp one thought superior

7. (esp of certain species of insects) living together in organized colonies Compare solitary

   social bees

8. (of plant species) growing in clumps, usually over a wide area

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noun

1. an informal gathering, esp of an organized group, to promote companionship, communal activity, etc

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• socialness
  noun
• hypersocial
  adjective
• intersocial
  adjective
• nonsocial
  adjective
• pseudosocial
  adjective
• unsocial
  adjective
• socially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• socials
  plural

Etymology

Origin of social

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin sociālis, equivalent to soci(us) “partner, comrade, ally” (derivative of sequī “to follow”) + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

If you are social, you like to be around people. A social butterfly is someone who is social or friendly with everyone, flitting from person to person, the way a butterfly might. The word social comes from the Latin socius meaning "friend." When you're being social, you're everyone's friend. Go to a social, or mixer, and you might make a lot of new friends. Stand in the corner pouting, however, and you're being anti-social. Humans are described as social beings — ones that tend to move or live in groups together, like penguins!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

social socials

The organization brings together dozens of Black churches on social justice issues, including voter education.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026

In a post on social media, the school later shared a call for blood donations.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

The president decried the ruling on social media.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The court, though, did acknowledge that social media also has benefits and didn’t go as far as ordering Meta to change its algorithm and recommendations because it affects content on the platform.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

But Handsome was a friend, and Duane knew that Handsome preferred, as he put it, to obey the rules and etiquette of society in regard to the decorum of social gatherings both big and small.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Thank you to all the new people using the BBC, buying licence fees from QR codes or finding our app, socials or shows for the first time.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

"It's marketing, you can go to the socials and say, 'we've got a 3D printed boat', and everybody wants to look at and touch that boat."

From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025

“We often didn’t have a salary, but we kept working just to keep the socials alive.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025

While she doesn't buy into all the techniques on socials, Eirian says there are parts of her practice that use breathwork, eye movements and tapping.

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025

Instead, she spent the next year at home, playing piano for church socials.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

• civil
• communal