affability
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing affability
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lugo’s George has a simple affability that’s infectious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
I don’t know Justice Thomas, but all who do attest to the man’s cheerfulness and affability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
Richter, though, is widely beloved or at least enjoyed, whether that’s due to his consistent improvement or his association with late-night at a time when that genre is politically imperiled, or his “gosh golly” affability.
From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2025
And Johnson, who devotes “two to four hours a week” to his project, has just the right mix of passion and affability to nudge labels in the right direction.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2024
“Not if I can help it. This occasion shall not entirely pass without that affability on your part.—May I, as an old friend and well-wisher? May I?”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
