personable
Americanadjective
-
having an agreeable or pleasing personality; affable; amiable; sociable.
-
of pleasing personal appearance; handsome or comely; attractive.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of personable
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at person, -able
Explanation
If you're personable, you're friendly and get along well with other people. Being personable is part of what makes you the star of the sales team — people just seem to like you. Someone who's personable can be outgoing, charming, nice, bubbly, amiable, pleasing, or generous, but he doesn’t have to be all of those things — it just all needs to add up to being pleasant. You may be pleasant but not bubbly, and that’s personable. In fact, if you're too bubbly, you might stop being personable and become annoying, which is not personable.
Vocabulary lists containing personable
Real Nice!
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My Side of the Mountain
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Unit 2, Whole-Class & Small-Group Learning
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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.
I’m willing to bet that not all of your customers are personable or easy to deal with, especially if they are facing an emergency repair.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
One memorable scene shows the wiry, personable Hammer introducing a classroom of grade-schoolers to experimental film.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The fact the vast majority of the questions centred around his own personal performance against Argentina was perhaps another reason why he wasn't his usual personable self.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
When these findings are presented in a warm and personable tone, they will erase the invisible boundaries between humans and unite us in our shared paths on this Earth.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
He liked Dasch and thought he was very personable and very talkative.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
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.
