cordiality
Americannoun
-
cordialities
plural
-
cordial quality or feeling.
- Synonyms:
- heartiness, geniality, friendliness, warmth
-
an expression of cordial feeling.
noun
Usage
What does cordiality mean? Cordiality is the quality of being cordial—friendly and polite. Cordial is used to describe people and their behavior toward others in social situations, especially when they do not know each other well. A cordial greeting is a warm and friendly one, especially one intended to make someone feel welcome. When you treat people with cordiality, you treat them with a sincere friendliness and warmth. Example: Even when I don’t like my coworkers, I try to treat them with cordiality.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of cordiality
Explanation
Cordiality is a characteristic of being friendly and agreeable. Your habit of smiling and saying hello to everyone you pass on the street is evidence of your cordiality. People who show cordiality are polite, kind, and pleasant, but the word implies a bit of reserve: you might appreciate the cordiality among the employees at your after-school job, but your relationships with your closest friends and family are characterized by an emotion deeper than cordiality. At the root of cordiality is the Latin word cor, or "heart."
Vocabulary lists containing cordiality
The Fire Next Time
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Persuasion
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"Old World Landowners" by Nikolai Gogol
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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.
See Examples For:
The spat caused unease in a country with a tradition of political cordiality, even between ideological foes.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
As Samet navigates his final semester, winter giving way to summer, he holds his true intentions close to the vest, his outward signs of cordiality undercut by ugly outbursts when he feels betrayed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
The new cordiality was on display on Wednesday when Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Jeffries were spotted exiting the speaker’s office while engaged in a friendly and businesslike discussion.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 8, 2023
After the meeting, Chinese and U.S. officials highlighted the cordiality of proceedings in a sign it could help open the door to more communication between the two militaries.
From Reuters ● Jun. 10, 2022
“Mind if I sit down a minute?” the young man asked, with what seemed to be unlimited cordiality.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
Silicon Valley is generally considered to have a laid back Californian culture, but behind all of the polite cordialities, there rests a necessary cutthroat attitude.
From Salon ● Mar. 16, 2015
After brief cordialities, Tenet got down to business.
From Time Magazine Archive
To what end the house, if not for conversation, kindly manners, the entertainment of friendships, the cordialities that render the house large, and the ready receptacle of hosts and guests?
From Tablets by Amos Bronson Alcott
From many a page what cordialities step forth to console and to fortify us; what divine depths we come upon; what sudden vistas of sunshine through tempest-shaken shadows; what bursts of splendor through nebulous mutterings.
From Essays Æsthetical by George H. (George Henry) Calvert
Field had been civil, respectful, but utterly uncommunicative in his replies to the captain's repeated cordialities.
From A Daughter of the Sioux A Tale of the Indian frontier by Edwin Willard Deming
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
