friendly

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adjective

American English pronunciation: friendly

/ˈfren(d)li/

adjective	friendly
comparative	friendlier
superlative	friendliest

Related dictionary definitions

Metaphor

1
someone who is friendly is always pleasant and helpful toward other people
I enjoy working there, everyone is so friendly.
He will be remembered as a kind, friendly person.
friendly toward/to:
The local people went out of their way to be friendly toward us.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
1. a.
  used about people’s behavior
  a friendly smile/manner/welcome:
  The receptionist greeted us with a friendly smile.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
2. b.
  used about places and situations
  There’s a warm and friendly atmosphere at the club.
  It’s not a very friendly city.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
2
if you are friendly with someone, you are their friend
Janet and I used to be very friendly (=friends with each other).
friendly with:
Doctors shouldn’t get too friendly with their patients.
on friendly terms:
We parted on friendly terms.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
3
a friendly country or government has a good relationship with your country and is not your enemy
To the Allies, Switzerland was a friendly neutral country.
The new country hopes to establish friendly relations with all its neighbors.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
1. a.
  on the same side as you in a war
  friendly aircraft
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
4
a friendly game is not part of a competition but is played for fun or to practice skills
Would you care for a friendly game of chess?
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
1. a.
  used for saying that people compete with each other but are friends
  There was a friendly rivalry between them.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly
5
business a friendly takeover is one in which a company has agreed that another company should buy it
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of friendly

derived word

friendliness

noun [uncountable]

Metaphor: friendly

A friendly relationship between people is like warm, sunny weather. When people are unfriendly toward one another, it is like cold weather.

They greeted us warmly when we arrived.
They are very warm-hearted/cold-hearted people.
I didn’t like him at first, but I soon warmed to him.
She has a sunny disposition.
Their friendly greetings were met with a frosty silence.
We were given a fairly chilly reception.
He stared at us coldly.
She treated us with cool indifference.
The other two girls began to freeze her out.
Observers have noted a thaw in Franco-American relations.

This is the American English definition of friendly. View British English definition of friendly.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

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