sociable

English

Etymology

From Middle French sociable, from Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

sociable (comparative more sociable, superlative most sociable)

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

   Synonyms: friendly, inviting, congenial, convivial, outgoing

   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], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →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 ?

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

• antisociable
• hypersociable
• nonsociable
• sociability
• sociable lapwing
• sociableness
• sociable number
• sociable plover
• sociable weaver
• sociable weaverbird
• sociably
• supersociable

Translations

tending to socialize or be social; friendly; inviting; congenial

Belarusian: тавары́скі (tavarýski) Bulgarian: общителен (bg) (obštitelen), приятелски (bg) (prijatelski) Catalan: sociable (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 社交的 (zh) (shèjiāo de) Finnish: seurallinen, sosiaalinen (fi) French: sociable (fr) Galician: falangueiro (gl) Georgian: მეგობრული (megobruli), კომუნიკაბელური (ḳomuniḳabeluri), ურთიერთობის მოყვარული (urtiertobis moq̇varuli), კონტაქტური (ḳonṭakṭuri) German: gesellig (de) Hungarian: társaságkedvelő (hu), barátkozó (hu), közvetlen (hu) Irish: caidreamhach, cuideachtúil Italian: socievole (it) Japanese: 社交的な (ja) (しゃこうてきな, shakōteki na) Māori: whakahoahoa Norwegian: Bokmål: selskapelig Nynorsk: selskapeleg, selskapleg Polish: towarzyski (pl) Portuguese: sociável (pt) Romanian: sociabil (ro) Russian: общи́тельный (ru) (obščítelʹnyj), коммуника́бельный (ru) (kommunikábelʹnyj), конта́ктный (ru) (kontáktnyj), компане́йский (ru) (kompanéjskij) Spanish: sociable (es), comerciable (es), gregario (es) Tagalog: halubilo, mahalubilo Ukrainian: товари́ський (tovarýsʹkyj), компані́йський (kompaníjsʹkyj) Welsh: cymdeithasol (cy)

Noun

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.

Derived terms

• necktie sociable

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Adjective

sociable m or f by sense (sociables)

1. sociable

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sociābilis.

Adjective

sociable m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “sociable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “sociable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “sociable”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.sjabl/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

sociable (plural sociables)

1. sociable

Further reading

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

Galician

Alternative forms

• sociábel
• sociável (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷéh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ṓy

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷh₂ṓy

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷyós

Proto-Italic *sokjos

Latin sokios

Latin socius

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin sociāre, sociō

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin sociābilisbor.

Galician sociable

Borrowed from Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sɔˈθjable/ [s̺ɔˈθja.β̞lɪ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /sɔˈθjable/ [s̺ɔˈθja.β̞lɪ]
• IPA^(key): (seseo) /sɔˈsjable/ [sɔˈsja.β̞lɪ]

• Rhymes: -able
• Hyphenation: so‧cia‧ble

Adjective

sociable m or f (plural sociables)

1. sociable

   Antonym: insociable

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

sociable m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

Derived terms

• sociabilidad
• sociabilizar

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025