gregarious

English

WOTD – 28 October 2008

Etymology

First attested in 1688; borrowed from Latin gregārius, see -ious.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɡɹɪˈɡɛə.ɹɪ.əs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɡɹɪˈɡɛɚ.i.əs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Adjective

gregarious (comparative more gregarious, superlative most gregarious)

1. (of a person) Who enjoys being in crowds and socializing.
2. (zoology) Of animals that travel in herds or packs.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 32, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 151:

     The Fin-Back is not gregarious. He seems a whale-hater, as some men are man-haters.

   • 1972, Richard Adams, Watership Down:

     Rabbits are lively at nightfall, and when evening rain drives them underground they still feel gregarious.

   • 2015, Kim Gordon, chapter 18, in Carrie Thornton, editor, Girl in a Band, New York: Dey st., →ISBN, page 114:

     That same unpredictability made Thurston fun and even thrilling to be around, that and his gregarious manner. Outwardly, Thurston was friendly, good-natured, funny, extremely likable.

3. (botany) Growing in open clusters or colonies; not matted together.
4. Pertaining to a flock or crowd.

Synonyms

• (of a person who enjoys being in crowds): outgoing, sociable, social

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “of a person”): ungregarious
• (antonym(s) of “zoology”): nongregarious

Derived terms

• gregariously
• gregariousness
• gregarize
• semigregarious

Translations

of a person who enjoys being in crowds

• Arabic: اِجْتِمَاعِيّ (ijtimāʕiyy)
• Bulgarian: общителен (bg) (obštitelen)
• Catalan: gregari (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 社交的 (zh) (shèjiāo de), 喜爱社交的

• Czech: družný (cs), společenský (cs)
• Danish: selskabelig
• Dutch: gezellig (nl), sociaal (nl), gregarieus, uitgaand (nl)
• Esperanto: grega
• Finnish: seurallinen
• French: sociable (fr)
• Galician: social (gl) m or f
• German: gesellig (de)
• Greek: κοινωνικός (el) (koinonikós)
• Hungarian: társaságot kedvelő
• Indonesian: suka bergaul
• Italian: socievole (it)
• Japanese: 社交的な (ja) (しゃこうてきな, shakōteki na)
• Korean: 사교적인 (ko) (sagyojeog-in)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: selskapelig

  Nynorsk: selskapeleg, selskapleg

• Persian: معاشرتی (fa) (mo'âšerati)
• Portuguese: gregário (pt)
• Romanian: sociabil (ro)
• Russian: общи́тельный (ru) m (obščítelʹnyj), коммуника́бельный (ru) m (kommunikábelʹnyj), конта́ктный (ru) m (kontáktnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: greigheach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: друштвен

  Latin: društven (sh)

• Spanish: sociable (es)
• Swedish: sällskaplig (sv)
• Turkish: sosyal (tr), girişken (tr), girgin (tr)
• Welsh: cymdeithasgar

of animals that travel in herds

• Bulgarian: събиращ се на ята (săbirašt se na jata)
• Catalan: gregari (ca)
• Czech: stádní
• Dutch: in kudde levend, kudde- (nl)
• Finnish: lauma- (fi), laumassa elävä
• French: grégaire (fr) m or f
• Galician: gregario (gl) m
• German: Herden- (de)
• Greek: αγελαίος (el) (agelaíos)
• Māori: noho rōpū
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: flokk- (no)

• Portuguese: gregário (pt)
• Romanian: gregar (ro)
• Russian: ста́дный (ru) m (stádnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: greigheach
• Serbo-Croatian: čoporski

  Cyrillic: друштвен

  Latin: društven (sh)

• Spanish: gregario (es)
• Turkish: sürü hâlinde, sürücül (tr)
• Ukrainian: ста́дний (stádnyj)
• Welsh: heidiol