amiable
Americanadjective
-
having or showing pleasant, good-natured personal qualities; affable.
an amiable disposition.
- Synonyms:
- gracious
- Antonyms:
- rude
-
friendly; sociable.
an amiable greeting; an amiable gathering.
- Synonyms:
- amicable
- Antonyms:
- hostile, unfriendly
-
agreeable; willing to accept the wishes, decisions, or suggestions of another or others.
-
Obsolete. lovable or lovely.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of amiable
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin amīcābilis amicable
Explanation
A friendly, pleasant person could be described as amiable. Airline flight attendants tend to be amiable. The people monitoring the school's cafeteria? Maybe not. An amiable person is good-natured and easy to get along with. Add one letter and you get amicable, a word with a common ancestor (Latin amicabilis) and a similar meaning. But while amiable refers to friendly people, amicable refers to friendly relations between them; two amiable people who no longer want to be married to one another might have an amicable divorce.
Vocabulary lists containing amiable
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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All You Need is Love: Amor and Phil
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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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.
The amiable campaigners AFP accompanied on a recent sign-posting spree on Washington's uptown Georgia Avenue, did not match the profile of angry activists.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
The school’s new superintendent, Michael Borgschulte, an amiable lieutenant general with a Bronze Star and a pearly white set of teeth, steps onto the bandstand.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
“Not Suitable for Work,” premiering Tuesday on Hulu, is an amiable, sweet-tempered romantic ensemble comedy with a heftier than usual emphasis on professional ambition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
As amiable as the movie is from the jump, it wastes no time thrusting viewers into a world in complete peril, refusing to sugarcoat the modern realities of a once-robust industry.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
She had taken an amiable caprice to me.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
