personal

American  

[pur-suh-nl] / ˈpɜr sə nl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or coming as from a particular person; individual; private.

   a personal opinion.

2. relating to, directed to, or intended for a particular person.

   a personal favor; one's personal life; a letter marked “Personal.”

3. intended for use by one person.

   a personal car.

4. referring or directed to a particular person in a disparaging or offensive sense or manner, usually involving character, behavior, appearance, etc..

   personal remarks.

5. making personal remarks or attacks.

   to become personal in a dispute.

6. done, carried out, held, etc., in person.

   a personal interview.

7. pertaining to or characteristic of a person or self-conscious being.

   That is my personal belief.

8. of the nature of an individual rational being.

9. pertaining to the body, clothing, or appearance.

   personal cleanliness.

10. provided for one's discretionary use.

    Employees are allowed 15 vacation days and two personal days.

11. Grammar.

    1. noting person.

       In Latin portō “I carry,” -ō is a personal ending.

    2. of, relating to, or characteristic of the personal pronoun, as English I, we, you, he, she, it, and they .

12. Law. of or relating to personal property.

    personal interests.

---

noun

• personals
  plural

1. 1. a short news paragraph in a newspaper concerning a particular person, as one who is socially prominent, or a group of particular persons who are socially prominent.

   2. a brief, private notice in a newspaper or magazine, often addressed to a particular person, and typically bearing an abbreviated salutation and signature to preserve its confidentiality, usually printed in a special part of the classified advertising section.

   3. Also called personal ad.  a similar notice, as in a newspaper or on a website, placed by a person seeking companionship, a spouse, etc.

   4. Usually personals. a column, page, or section, as of a newspaper, magazine, or website, featuring such notices or items.

personal British  

/ ˈpɜːsənəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the private aspects of a person's life

   personal letters

   a personal question

2. (prenominal) of or relating to a person's body, its care, or its appearance

   personal hygiene

   great personal beauty

3. belonging to or intended for a particular person and no-one else

   as a personal favour

   for your personal use

4. (prenominal) undertaken by an individual himself

   a personal appearance by a celebrity

5. referring to, concerning, or involving a person's individual personality, intimate affairs, etc, esp in an offensive way

   personal remarks

   don't be so personal

6. having the attributes of an individual conscious being

   a personal God

7. of or arising from the personality

   personal magnetism

8. of, relating to, or denoting grammatical person

9. law of or relating to movable property, such as money Compare real 1

---

noun

1. law an item of movable property

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• personalness
  noun
• hyperpersonal
  adjective
• multipersonal
  adjective
• nonpersonal
  adjective
• quasi-personal
  adjective
• superpersonal
  adjective
• unpersonal
  adjective
• hyperpersonally
  adverb
• nonpersonally
  adverb
• quasi-personally
  adverb
• superpersonally
  adverb
• unpersonally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• personals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of personal

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English word from Late Latin word persōnālis. See person, -al ¹

Explanation

When something's personal, it's all about you. A personal decision is one you make on your own and it’s probably about something that concerns you, too. Your personal possessions are things that belong to you. No doubt you've noticed the word person, in personal. The word comes from the Latin personalis, "of a person." Personal can be your personal habits — how often your brush your teeth, whether you like broccoli — or your personal space, or a personal attack — mean-spirited criticism aimed at somebody in particular. The "Personals" section in your local newspaper is where people place ads hoping to find true love or with other personal messages.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

personal personals

Curated by Hever’s Alison Palmer, Owen Emmerson and Kate McCaffrey, this extraordinary exhibition augments Hever’s “Rose Portrait” of Anne with personal objects and 37 other depictions, including 14 oil portraits on loan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Organisers posted on their Instagram he would no longer be performing "due to a personal emergency".

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Winning them over means reaching them on platforms such as Instagram, where personal and unfiltered content can resonate more than traditional political messaging.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

As the Atlantic reported this week, the “pushback was so overwhelming, so obviously coordinated, so ugly and personal that it became a story.”

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

Via the speakers, a feminine voice says, “Once again, this is a totally full flight. Please place personal items under your seat and use the first available overhead space for your larger carry-on.”

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

As a result, sites like Craigslist removed their entire online personals sections.

From The Verge ● Oct. 17, 2019

John had recently moved to the city and was getting to know his new home: mainly, he says, by answering personals ads in the newspaper.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 3, 2019

“There were pages and pages of personals, mine was the only one to say wedding planner. I got lovely young couples who were having trouble planning their weddings.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2019

His backup, Jason Smith, followed the trend and sat the majority of the second half with four personals.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2018

“Two nights ago, when I got up tae—” he hesitated, glancing at Denna, “—attend tae moi personals, I saw lights off tae the north. A big wash o’ blue flame.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Related Words

• intimate
• particular
• secret
• special