How do you pronounce personable?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɜɹs(ə)nəb(ə)l/.

Where does personable come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

personable

/ˈpɜɹs(ə)nəb(ə)l/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English

Syllables: per-son-a-ble
IPA: /ˈpɜɹs(ə)nəb(ə)l/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of a person: having a pleasing appearance; attractive; handsome.

adj

Of a person: having a pleasant manner; amiable, friendly.

adj

Synonym of personal (“done in person, without an intermediary”).

Obsolete

adj

Being a legal person and thus able to maintain a plea in court, or to hold some property or right.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"We ſee one woman, whiche by one man hath manie children, of theym ſome be fayre and perſonable, ſome ill fauoured and croked, […]"
"I vvas Tall and Perſonable, but a little too ſmooth Fac'd for a Man; hovvever as I ſeldom vvent Abroad, but in the Night it did vvell enough; […]"
"I admit him a personable man, for I have seen him; and I will suppose him courteous and agreeable."
"He regarded himself as dressed. Barefoot, bare-chested, radiant and personable against the shadowy woods, he called: "Hullo, Miss Honeychurch! Hullo!""
"A thouſand thoughts ſhe faſhioned in her mind, / And in her feigning fancie did pourtray / Him ſuch, as fitteſt he for loue could find, / VViſe, vvarlike, perſonable, courteous, and kind."
"I'm bound to admit that you're a personable young rascal, with the best manners I've met in a long time, but I warn you that you can't go far."

Etymology

From Late Middle English personable, personabil (“having a pleasing appearance, handsome”), and then from both of the following: * For sense 1 (“having a pleasing appearance”) and sense 2 (“having a pleasant manner”) (these senses are not found in Old French or Medieval Latin), probably from person, personne, persoun (“individual, person”) + -āble (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’ forming adjectives). * For sense 3.1 (“synonym of personal”) and sense 3.2 (“being a legal person”), from Middle French personable and Old French personable, and from their etymon Medieval Latin personābilis (“personal”), possibly from Medieval Latin persōna (“person”) + Latin -ābilis (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’). By surface analysis, person + -able (suffix meaning ‘relevant or suitable to’).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: personable, personābilis, persōna, -ābilis

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈpɜɹs(ə)nəb(ə)l/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

more personable (comparative) most personable (superlative) parsonable (alternative) personible (alternative)

Derived Forms

impersonable personability personableness personably unpersonable

Synonyms

good-looking attractive beauteous beautifool beautiful beautimous bona vardering bonnie breathtaking captivating comely cute

Antonyms

unattractive unpersonable bad beat butters butt-ugly clapped coyote ugly deform fuckfaced fugly hideous