- gracious
- gracious, cordial, affable, genial, sociable are used to describe persons or their words or acts who or which are markedly pleasant and easy in social intercourse.Gracious implies kindliness and courtesy especially to inferiors. When it carries the latter implication, it more often suggests kindly consideration than condescension{
gracious to everyone, but known to a very few— Cather
}{heartened by her gracious reception of a nervous bow— Shaw
}Cordial stresses warmth and heartiness{a cordial wel- come
}{a cordial handclasp
}{be on cordial terms
}{they gave us a cordial reception, and a hearty supper— Melville
}Affable implies approachability and readiness to talk in the person conversed with or addressed; when applied to a social superior, it sometimes connotes condescending familiarity but more often a gracious willingness to be friendly{I don't find . . . that his wealth has made him arrogant and inaccessible; on the contrary, he takes great pains to appear affable and gracious— Smollett
}{his father was an excellent man ... his son will be just like him—just as affable to the poor— Austen
}{easy of approach and affable in conversation. They seldom put on airs— Maugham
}Genial sometimes emphasizes cheerfulness and even joviality. Often, however, it stresses qualities that make for good cheer among companions (as warm human sympathy and a fine sense of humor){a genial host
}{he was no fanatic and no ascetic. He was genial, social, even convivial— Goldwin Smith
}Sociable implies a genuine liking for the companionship of others and readiness to engage in social intercourse even with strangers or inferiors{was genial and sociable, approachable at all times and fond of social intercourse— Reeves
}Analogous words: obliging, complaisant, *amiable: benignant, benign, kindly, *kind: courteous, courtly, chivalrous (see CIVIL)Antonyms: ungracious
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
