characteristic of or befitting a friend; showing friendship.
a friendly greeting.
like a friend; kind; helpful.
a little friendly advice.
favorably disposed; inclined to approve, help, or support.
a friendly bank.
not hostile or at variance; amicable.
a friendly warship;
friendly natives.
easy to use, operate, understand, etc. (usually used in combination).
a consumer-friendly instruction manual;
a friendly food processor.
able to coexist with something without harm or trouble (usually used in combination).
environmentally friendly building materials;
a child-friendly restaurant.
showing or expressing liking, goodwill, or trust
a friendly smile
on the same side; not hostile
tending or disposed to help or support; favourable
a friendly breeze helped them escape
Friendly, describes people who are kind, caring, and make you feel comfortable. You might be new to town, but the people are so friendly that you'll soon feel right at home. The noun friend is at the root of the adjective friendly. When you're friendly, you treat everyone like a friend — with warmth and respect. A friendly game of badminton is by definition not too serious or competitive, and a vegetarian-friendly menu makes non meat-eaters feel welcome, just as user-friendly instructions make it easy for non-professionals to follow the directions.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tuchel actively encouraged this friendly rivalry, but when push came to shove in the heat of a World Cup, he went for Bellingham's world class, big-game experience and pedigree.
From BBC • Jul. 12, 2026
With his friendly smile and understated suit, the 51-year-old businessman is spearheading a series of industrial and logistics infrastructure projects, with the aim of developing sectors for the processing of raw materials.
From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026
“Behind the friendly, cap-wearing Beaver with the goofy smile is a hit-style trademark enforcement legal team that is slowly taking-out cartoon animals one by one,” trademark attorney Alice Denenberg wrote in an online post.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 9, 2026
"That is why enzymatic synthesis in water can matter. If far more than 64 sequences can be synthesized in parallel, it could offer an environmentally friendly route toward writing DNA at very large scale."
From Science Daily • Jul. 9, 2026
Miel said, in a way that was probably meant to be friendly but came out as a command.
From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness
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.
