friendly
adjective
characteristic of or befitting a friend; showing friendship.
friendly
American
[frend-lee]
/ ˈfrɛnd li /
adjective
-
friendlier,
comparative
-
friendliest
superlative
-
characteristic of or befitting a friend; showing friendship.
a friendly greeting.
- Synonyms:
- neighborly, companionable
-
like a friend; kind; helpful.
a little friendly advice.
- Synonyms:
- cordial, amiable, kindly, kindhearted, affectionate, genial
-
favorably disposed; inclined to approve, help, or support.
a friendly bank.
- Synonyms:
- propitious, sympathetic, favorable, helpful, well-disposed, benevolent
- Antonyms:
- antagonistic
-
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.
adverb
noun
-
friendlies
plural
friendly
1
British
/ ˈfrɛndlɪ /
adjective
-
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
noun
-friendly
2
British
combining form
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of friendly
Explanation
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.
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:
In a less friendly profile for the same magazine published this April, titled “Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?,”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
His team also pocketed a hefty sum -- several million dollars -- for travelling to Luanda in November 2025 for a friendly marking Angola's 50th Independence Day celebrations.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
As the New York Times reported last month, even friendly countries are reducing their holdings of U.S.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
Others are trying to farm in a more nature friendly way.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
She navigates a chorus of friendly greetings as she walks down a dim, quiet corridor toward her room.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
“Google fans seem to eat this kumbaya stuff up, to really believe it,” wrote John Gruber, a blogger who runs the -friendly site Daring Fireball.
From Forbes ● May 16, 2013
There are lines, -friendly soundbites and poetry, and then there is John Cooper Clarke.
From The Guardian ● May 3, 2013
Whilst there is no standard practice for organising international professional friendlies, smaller African teams generally rely on agencies to manage their away fixtures and don't necessarily make any profit from the games.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
"African football associations accept these deals because everything is taken care of. It saves them having to find opponents and organise friendlies," explained an expert on African football who asked not to be named.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The lengthy 16-day session will feature friendlies against Peru and Chile in September and against Mexico and Canada during the first week of October.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
The Reds have won two and lost two of their four friendlies so far - beating Sunderland and Wrexham, but throwing away two-goal leads in defeats by Leeds and Monaco.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
“There are no friendlies ahead of us,” the platoon leader reported.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
In that sense, the Millennium Prize moment is a friendlier version of the Hugging Face incident.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
“That doesn’t make a home within reach for everyone, but, for people who can afford to buy now, it’s a much friendlier market than it was a few years ago.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Indeed, United did not have a shot on target until the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time, substitute Simi Awujo's goal giving the scoreline a friendlier look.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
And if the conventional wisdom about a candidate is a lot friendlier on that platform than on a competitor’s, I’d spend some extra time interrogating why that might be happening.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Then again, she wouldn’t want me to, so maybe it’s a lot friendlier than all that.
From "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
The friendliest U.S. cities, according to World Cup tourists.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Decades of retelling this story means "kindliest" has now turned into "friendliest".
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026
Now it’s Alcaraz who has closed the gap, on Sinner’s friendliest terrain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2025
Your executive producer on "Watson" said that it would be fun to cast the friendliest man in the world in this role.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2025
Grandpa was just the friendliest host you ever saw.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
