| / English Dictionary |
GENIAL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Diffusing warmth and friendliness
Example:
a genial host
Synonyms:
affable; amiable; cordial; genial
Classified under:
Similar:
friendly (characteristic of or befitting a friend)
Derivation:
geniality (a disposition to be friendly and approachable (easy to talk to))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Agreeable, conducive to comfort
Example:
hot summer pavements are anything but kind to the feet
Synonyms:
genial; kind
Classified under:
Similar:
hospitable (favorable to life and growth)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Of or relating to the chin or median part of the lower jaw
Synonyms:
genial; mental
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
chin (the protruding part of the lower jaw)
Context examples:
She has the most agreeable of faces,—not absolutely beautiful, but extraordinarily pleasant,—and is one of the most genial, unaffected, frank, engaging creatures I have ever seen.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I was the first that could plod in the public eye with a load of genial respectability, and in a moment, like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
His manner was suddenly genial.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
May is the very month which Mrs. Churchill is ordered, or has ordered herself, to spend in some warmer place than Enscombe—in short, to spend in London; so that we have the agreeable prospect of frequent visits from Frank the whole spring—precisely the season of the year which one should have chosen for it: days almost at the longest; weather genial and pleasant, always inviting one out, and never too hot for exercise.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
But at last a soft, genial morning appeared; such as might tempt the daughter's wishes and the mother's confidence; and Marianne, leaning on Elinor's arm, was authorised to walk as long as she could without fatigue, in the lane before the house.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
I was interested as to which quatrain he would like best, and was not surprised when he hit upon the one born of an instant’s irritability, and quite at variance with the Persian’s complacent philosophy and genial code of life:
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It seemed natural: it seemed genial to be so well loved, so caressed by him.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He had an enormously massive genial manner, which was almost as overpowering as his violence.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He received us in his quietly genial fashion, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He was very genial and very appreciative of what we had done, and took off our hands all cares as to details.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
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