congenial
friendly, pleasant (person, atmosphere)
TRANSLATION
congenial = sympathisch, angenehm --- GOOGLE INDEX congenial: approximately 4,800,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Rising crimes spoil Egypt's CONGENIAL atmosphere
(The Oman Tribune, news headline)
---
The secret of happiness is to find a CONGENIAL monotony.
- V. S. Pritchett, British writer and critic
(The Oman Tribune, news headline)
---
The secret of happiness is to find a CONGENIAL monotony.
- V. S. Pritchett, British writer and critic
Did you
know?
congenial
adjective
(noun = congeniality)
- friendly and pleasant
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Congenial stems from the Latin com- "together" + genialis "of birth" and originally meant "to be related or to have a similar origin." This sense of having the same characteristics eventually led to the use of congenial as pleasing and likable because it implies something that suits one's own tastes or something that has similar qualities.
The noun form "congeniality" may be familiar to some, especially those who are interested in beauty contests. As a sort of consolation prize, many of these competitions hand out an award for the most likable contestant; Miss Congeniality. Typically selected by the other contestants, Miss Congeniality must have a high level of "soft skills" such as being helpful, polite and friendly. Not all Miss Congeniality winners continue their congenial ways after the contest though.
Such was the case with Sophie LaBoissonniere from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The 25-year-old beauty contestant and Miss Congeniality winner was not amused when the Vancouver Canucks hockey team lost to Boston in the finals of the Stanley Cup, the U.S. professional league championship series. She allegedly joined around 25 other rioters accused of vandalizing and burglarizing a Vancouver pharmacy.
Katherine Grefner from Miss World Canada reported that LaBoissonniere is nevertheless a congenial young woman "who really stood out during auditions. She expressed a keen interest in helping out with children and is just an all-around good kid."
False Friends:
Confusion often arises regarding the English congenial/genial and German kongenial/genial. Note that the English congenial and genial mean the same thing: friendly and pleasant. While congenial can also be used in the context of "having the same tastes, habits, or temperament," this usage has declined. As for the German "genial," it is more often used as a superlative expression (genial! Das ist genial!), which in English translates to something like "brilliant!" or "that's great!"
The German kongenial is closely related to the second definition of the English congenial (having similar qualities), but typically describes how something has been interpreted or translated, such as works of music, literature and art. This usage of the English congenial is rare.
---
SYNONYMS
affable, charming, cordial, friendly, good-natured, happy, likable, pleasant, nice, sociable
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I like this restaurant because it has a congenial atmosphere as well as great food."
adjective
(noun = congeniality)
- friendly and pleasant
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Congenial stems from the Latin com- "together" + genialis "of birth" and originally meant "to be related or to have a similar origin." This sense of having the same characteristics eventually led to the use of congenial as pleasing and likable because it implies something that suits one's own tastes or something that has similar qualities.
The noun form "congeniality" may be familiar to some, especially those who are interested in beauty contests. As a sort of consolation prize, many of these competitions hand out an award for the most likable contestant; Miss Congeniality. Typically selected by the other contestants, Miss Congeniality must have a high level of "soft skills" such as being helpful, polite and friendly. Not all Miss Congeniality winners continue their congenial ways after the contest though.
Such was the case with Sophie LaBoissonniere from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The 25-year-old beauty contestant and Miss Congeniality winner was not amused when the Vancouver Canucks hockey team lost to Boston in the finals of the Stanley Cup, the U.S. professional league championship series. She allegedly joined around 25 other rioters accused of vandalizing and burglarizing a Vancouver pharmacy.
Katherine Grefner from Miss World Canada reported that LaBoissonniere is nevertheless a congenial young woman "who really stood out during auditions. She expressed a keen interest in helping out with children and is just an all-around good kid."
False Friends:
Confusion often arises regarding the English congenial/genial and German kongenial/genial. Note that the English congenial and genial mean the same thing: friendly and pleasant. While congenial can also be used in the context of "having the same tastes, habits, or temperament," this usage has declined. As for the German "genial," it is more often used as a superlative expression (genial! Das ist genial!), which in English translates to something like "brilliant!" or "that's great!"
The German kongenial is closely related to the second definition of the English congenial (having similar qualities), but typically describes how something has been interpreted or translated, such as works of music, literature and art. This usage of the English congenial is rare.
---
SYNONYMS
affable, charming, cordial, friendly, good-natured, happy, likable, pleasant, nice, sociable
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I like this restaurant because it has a congenial atmosphere as well as great food."
