- social
- social adj Social, gregarious, cooperative, convivial, companionable, hospitable are comparable rather than synonymous terms that all involve and often stress the idea of having or manifesting a liking for or attraction to the company of others.Social, a broadly inclusive word, is dis-tinctly dichotomous. On the one hand it stresses sociability and the pleasant relation between individuals, singly or in groups{
a social club
}{spent a social evening with her friends
}{Adams was known as a man of social talent, a good talker, admired for his richness of recollection and apt illustration—W. C. Ford
}{of a jovial, social disposition, with a host of friends— Westcott
}and may come close to sociable (which see under GRACIOUS) in meaning{having to drive home, and not feeling very social, I drank very little— Balchiri
}{Miss Pinckney is one of the most social of beings .... Her hospitality is famous— Stoney
}On the other hand it can stress relation to society and the community and approach societal in meaning; when applied with this notion to the individual or kind of individual it implies membership in or adherence to a more or less definitely organized society; thus, the common reference to man as a social animal implies that human beings as a result of qualities inherent in their fundamental animal nature tend to live in societies rather than in solitude{there is every reason to believe that the origin of culture derives from the fact that man is a social animal. Social species are those whose very existence depends on interaction among their members. It is important to repeat that these social essentials are not peculiarly human but are a basic fact in the existence of all mammalian species— Kimball Young
}In relation to immaterial things social may imply no more than relation to society{established social custom
}{the social aspects of cultures are the material traces of ideas and ideals in the habits and associations of men— McKeori
}but more often it stresses the consideration and responsibility of society for its members and especially its weaker members{legislation which is enacted to protect and aid those who cannot help themselves is often called social legislation— W. H. Wilson & E. S. Eyster
}{social rights—the right to work, to rest and leisure, to education, to material security in old age and in case of illness or disability— Mendel
}As applied to lower animals, social heightens the notion of societal and implies not mere physical association but association in a community with specialization of function and often of form{the honeybee is a common social insect with the colony members specialized for reproduction or for work
}Gregarious sometimes approaches the first aspect of social{a cheery, relaxed, fun-loving young man who enjoyed his own humor but enjoyed it all the more if it were shared by an appreciative audience. He was therefore gregarious, friendly, outgoing and extroverted—C. W. M. Hart
}{always gregarious and eager for companionship, Tony tried twice to draw abreast of the men plodding along the unmarked trail— Herron
}but in its commoner societal applications it tends, in distinction to social, to imply a need or desire for contiguity{he renounced ... a life of solitude, and became a gregarious creature— Co wper
}{impelled by gregarious instincts, Peter followed the crowd— H. G. Wells
}{the gregarious bustle goes on as a matter of routine. Streets intersect, shops advertise, homes have party walls, and fellow citizens depend upon the same water supply; but there is no cooperation between human beings— Joyce
}or a living contiguously rather than an active participation in the life of an integrated society{the ordinary gregarious human life, led by us in contact with others and in the stress of our normal pursuits— Powys
}{many solitary insects are gregarious, that is, they share certain common needs or react in the same way to certain external stimuli so that dense populations assemble locally— O. W. Richards
}{it is at least plausible that the domestication of animals—which are almost exclusively gregarious animals—is based on the relation of the hunter to the wild herd— Franz Boas
}The remaining terms describe particular aspects of being social. Cooperative implies the existence of common ends which serve as the objectives of a group, a community, or society at large and of the need of mutual assistance in the attainment of those ends; the term therefore usually suggests shared effort, helpfulness, and a willingness to work for the welfare or well-being of the entire group leadership of a cooperative rather than of a competitive type— Sellars){capacity for cooperative industrial effort— Mumford
}{with regard to a young English statesman, we want to know two things mainly—his intrinsic value, and his cooperative capacity— Pall Mall Gazette
}{if we are to develop a cooperative foreign policy, we shall have to learn to consult continuously with other nations— Dean
}Convivial is applied chiefly to persons, groups, or activities that manifest enjoyment of the company of others especially in festive joviality and eating and drinking{at the insistence of a convivial uncle . . . she permits herself to drink three glasses of champagne— Edmund Wilson
}{has a convivial temperament . . . gets on a first-name basis quickly— Dwight Macdonald
}{dinners convivial and political— Shelley
}{she was a somewhat somber figure in that convivial household— Cather
}Companionable implies a special fitness by nature or disposition for friendly and intimate association with others{thus we lived on unsocially together. More companionable . . . were the large crawling, running insects—crickets, beetles, and others— Hudson
}and it is often applied to things (as situations or writings) that are felt to convey such a quality{they [swans] paddle in the cold companionable streams or climb the air— Yeats
}{the book is above all companionable, and has an insinuation of appeal that no other work quite possesses— More
}Hospitable usually implies a disposition to receive and to entertain not only one's friends but especially strangers; it therefore stresses receptiveness and generosity more than any of the preceding terms{it was no small joy to these west-movers ... to find this hospitable, talkative man who was everywhere bustling about, trying to be of service to them— Rolvaag
}{your criticism, so hospitable to ideas, so inflexible in judging right from wrong— Quiller— Couch
}Antonyms: unsocial, antisocial, asocial
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
