cordial
Americanadjective
noun
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a strong, sweetened, aromatic alcoholic liquor; liqueur
-
a stimulating medicine.
-
anything that invigorates or exhilarates.
adjective
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warm and friendly
a cordial greeting
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giving heart; stimulating
noun
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a drink with a fruit base, usually sold in concentrated form and diluted with water before being drunk
lime cordial
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another word for liqueur
Usage
What does cordial mean? Cordial means friendly and polite. It used to describe people and their behavior toward others in social situations, especially when they do not know each other well. When you treat people cordially, you treat them with a sincere friendliness and warmth. A cordial greeting is a warm and friendly one, especially one intended to make someone feel welcome. The quality of being cordial is cordiality. Cordial can also be used as a noun meaning a sweetened liquor (more commonly called a liqueur) or a kind of nonalcoholic fruit-based drink, like lime cordial. Example: My parents were always very cordial and welcoming when I brought new friends home.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cordial
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin cordiālis, equivalent to Latin cordi- (stem of cor ) “heart” + -ālis adjective suffix; see heart ( def. ), -al 1
Explanation
Use cordial to describe a relationship that is friendly and sincere but not overly close. A cordial greeting is perfectly pleasant but doesn't involve lots of hugging or excessive emotion. You might have cordial relationships with most of the kids in your close, but only confide in your closest friends. In Middle English, this adjective meant "of the heart," borrowed from medieval Latin cordiālis, from Latin cor, "heart." This core sense of "heart" can be seen in the synonyms heartfelt and hearty. The noun cordial originally referred to a medicine or drink that stimulates the heart, but its current sense is "a liqueur."
Vocabulary lists containing cordial
Grade 9, List 2
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More Positive Words to Describe a Person
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Body Language: Cor, Cord, Cardio ("Heart")
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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.
Jay Schellenberg, 38, a site reliability engineer with Cordial, recently got his first Blueboard reward and took his wife to see the musical when it passed through San Diego last month.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2022
"All of a sudden I realized — wait, this is basically a Rose's Lime Cordial," he says.
From Salon • Aug. 21, 2022
Cordial but quietly reserved, he hardly comes across like an international maestro of the extreme.
From The Guardian • Dec. 9, 2018
Cordial exes may be in a better position to give them those things than a married couple who make each other miserable.
From Slate • Jun. 13, 2017
And, along with Godfrey's Cordial and Daffy's Elixir, there were scores of other remedies for which no patents had been given.
From Old English Patent Medicines in America by Griffenhagen, George B.
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.
