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

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 is of a wonderful efficacy or power in procuring love.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

To extend Goodness and Affability farther, were impossible; there being no Foreigners but what are charm'd with the gracious Manner in which this Princess receives them.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

Affability Bob applauded his friend's course of action in view of its motive.

From When Ghost Meets Ghost by De Morgan, William Frend

And sly Affability, which is not only to be used in common and unconcerning speech, but upon all occasions.

From George Washington's Rules of Civility Traced to their Sources and Restored by Moncure D. Conway by Conway, Moncure Daniel