affable

UK/ˈæf.ə.bəl/US/ˈæf.ə.bəl/

adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,613 of 15,258neutral

Affable means easy and pleasant to talk to. An affable host, affable and open, remarkably affable.

It describes the manner rather than the feeling, so an affable person is welcoming on the surface without any claim about warmth underneath — which is why it can be faint praise. The Latin behind it means able to be spoken to. Note affability.

Definitions of affable

1adjectiveaffableEasy and pleasant to talk to.C1
“The new manager is an affable man who always stops to chat with the staff.”

affable is a quality of manner.

Where it comes from

Latin affabilis means able to be spoken to, from ad, to, plus fari, to speak. Fable comes from the same speaking.

Latin
affābilis
French
affable
English, today
affable

Built from

affor · Latin — to address
for · Latin — to speak, to talk

French affable, from Latin affābilis, from affor (“to address”), from ad + for (“to speak, to talk”). See fable. by surface analysis, af- + fable.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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