affability
noun/ˌæfəˈbɪlɪti/
Etymology From affable + -ity.
1
The state or quality of being affable, friendly, or approachable.
- O conspiracy, Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, When evils are most free? O, then by day Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy; Hide it in smiles and affability:1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- The Landlady […] was not without some Concern for the Confinement of poor Sophia, of whose great Sweetness of Temper and Affability the Maid of the House had made so favourable a Report, which was confirmed by all the Squire’s Servants […]1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 3, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XVI, page 191:
3 more examples
- […] he would sometimes pass me haughtily and coldly, just acknowledging my presence by a distant nod or a cool glance, and sometimes bow and smile with gentlemanlike affability.1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XIV, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 251:
- He [Toussaint L'Ouverture] knew how to listen to a subordinate officer with dignity and yet with affability.1938, C. L. R. James, chapter 11, in The Black Jacobins, New York: Vintage, published 1989, page 251:
- Bald, obliging, and on his way to training classes for his Irish setter, Mr. Telle is more the portrait of avuncular Norwegian affability than a would-be climate warrior.2026 May 15, Mark Sappenfield, “Even Norway is facing an energy crunch. It is hunting for solutions.”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC:
- Synonyms
- bonhomie
- Antonyms
- unaffability