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friendly

adjective · adverb · noun

Simple meaning

Warm and kind towards other people.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

frehndlee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɹɛndli

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Generally warm, approachable and easy to relate with in character.

  2. Inviting, characteristic of friendliness.

  3. Having an easy or accepting relationship with something.

  4. Without any hostility.

  5. Promoting the good of any person; favourable; propitious.

  6. in compounds

    Compatible with, or not damaging to (the compounded noun).

adverb

  1. In a friendly manner; like a friend.

noun

  1. A suburban settlement just west of Sowerby Bridge, Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE0524).

  2. A neighbourhood of Eugene, Lane County, Oregon, United States.

  3. A person or entity on the same side as one's own in a conflict.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Generally warm, approachable and easy to relate with in character.

Used this way, friendly is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use friendly

  • “The new neighbor seems very friendly and always waves hello.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

environmentally friendlyfriendly societyfriendly relationsfriendly termsfriendly mannerfriendly intercoursefriendly feelingfriendly letter

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • friendnounBase word

    A person you know well and regard with affection and trust.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • friendly islandsnounCompound term

    A monarchy on a Polynesian archipelago in the South Pacific.

  • friendly takeovernounCompound term

    A takeover that is welcomed by the management of the target company.

  • friendly firenounCompound term

    Fire that injures or kills an ally.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: generally warm

cordialamicable

Antonyms

adjective

Sense: generally warm

unfriendly

adverb

Sense: in a friendly manner

unfriendly

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.