sociable

From Middle French sociable, from Latin sociābilis.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊʃəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

sociable (comparative more sociable, superlative most sociable)

1. (of a person) Tending to socialize or be social.

   Synonyms: friendly, inviting, congenial

   He's normally pretty quiet, but he gets much more sociable around women.

   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Society is no comfort to one not sociable.

2. Offering opportunities for conversation; characterized by much conversation.

   a sociable party

3. (archaic) Capable of being, or fit to be, united in one body or company; associable.
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     They are sociable parts united into one body.

4. (obsolete) No longer hostile; friendly.
   • c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Is the King sociable And bids thee live ?

• (antonym(s) of “tending to socialize”): unsociable

sociable (plural sociables)

1. A sociable person.
2. (historical) A four-wheeled open carriage with seats facing each other.
3. A bicycle or tricycle for two persons side by side.
4. A couch with a curved S-shaped back.
5. (US) An informal party or church meeting for purposes of socializing.
   • 1903, George Horace Lorimer, Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to his Son, page 46:

     At the church sociables he used to hop around among them, chipping and chirping like a dicky-bird picking up seed; and he was a great hand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them.

From Latin sociābilis.

sociable (epicene, plural sociables)

1. sociable

Borrowed from Latin sociābilis.

sociable m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

• “sociable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sociable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “sociable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sociable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Latin sociābilis.

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.sjabl/

• Audio

  (file)

sociable (plural sociables)

1. sociable

• “sociable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• sociábel

From Latin sociābilis.

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.ˈθja.ble/, [s̺ɔ.ˈθja.βle̝]

sociable m or f (plural sociables)

1. sociable

   Antonym: insociable

• “sociable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012

From Latin sociābilis.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /soˈθjable/ [soˈθja.β̞le]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /soˈsjable/ [soˈsja.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: so‧cia‧ble

sociable m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

• “sociable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014