Likeable means easy to like. A likeable man, likeable enough, thoroughly likeable.
It is mild praise and it can be faint — describing somebody as likeable enough is nearly a criticism. It says nothing about ability, which is why it appears in political coverage as a separate measure from competence. Note the American spelling likable without the e.
1adjectivelikeableEasy to like.
“He's a likeable guy, always cheerful and ready to help.”
synonyms: personable, agreeable
likeable is a quality of appeal.
Also accepted in games: likable
Proto-Indo-European
*leyg- — image; likeness; similarity
Proto-Germanic
*līkāną
Proto-West Germanic
*līkēn
Old English
līcian — to like, to please
Middle English
liken
English
like
English, today
likeable
From like + -able. like Verb from Middle English liken, from Old English līcian (“to like, to please”), from Proto-West Germanic līkēn, from Proto-Germanic līkāną, from Proto-Indo-European leyg- (“image; likeness; similarity”). Cognate with stq liekje (“to be similar, resemble”), West Frisian lykje (“to seem, appear, look”), Dutch lijken (“to seem”), Low German lieken (“to be like; resemble”), German gleichen (“to resemble”), Swedish lika (“to like; put up with; align with”), Norwegian like (“to like”), Icelandic - and Faroese líka (“to like”). Noun from Middle English like (“pleasure, will, like”), from the verb Middle English liken (“to like”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA