gregarious

[gri-gair-ee-uh s] /grɪˈgɛər i əs/

adjective

fond of the company of others; sociable.

living in flocks or herds, as animals.

Botany. growing in open clusters or colonies; not matted together.

pertaining to a flock or crowd.

Origin

1660-70; < Latin gregārius belonging to a flock, equivalent to greg- (stem of grex) flock + -ārius -arious

Related forms

gregariously, adverb

gregariousness, noun

nongregarious, adjective

nongregariously, adverb

nongregariousness, noun

ungregarious, adjective

ungregariously, adverb

ungregariousness, noun

Synonyms

1. social, genial, outgoing, convivial, companionable, friendly, extroverted.

Examples from the web for gregarious

These gregarious marine birds are among the world's smallest penguins .
Hornbills are large gregarious birds that mate for life.
The problem was that her gregarious confidence vanished in social settings.
As some silk researchers see it, if spiders were gregarious vegetarians, the world might be a different place.
She lived and dressed elegantly, was straightforward and gregarious.
We humans are a gregarious species; we like to mingle with other humans.
For a shy man, his gregarious generosity of spirit was remarkable.
Completing the circle, gregarious people are under constant and greater social pressures to maintain various behavioral standards.
Secondly, he was not a gregarious man and he was in many ways a pessimist with some paranoiac tendencies.
Yet the lonely, searching poet could also be almost gregarious.

British Dictionary definitions for gregarious

gregarious

/ɡrɪˈɡɛərɪəs/

adjective

enjoying the company of others

(of animals) living together in herds or flocks Compare solitary (sense 6)

(of plants) growing close together but not in dense clusters

of, relating to, or characteristic of crowds or communities

Derived Forms

gregariously, adverb
gregariousness, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Latin gregārius belonging to a flock, from grex flock

Word Origin and History for gregarious

adj.

1660s, "living in flocks" (of animals), from Latin gregarius "pertaining to a flock; of the herd, of the common sort, common," from grex (genitive gregis) "flock, herd," reduplication of PIE root *ger- "to gather together, assemble" (cf. Greek ageirein "to assemble," agora "assembly;" Old Church Slavonic grusti "handful;" Lithuanian gurgulys "chaos, confusion," gurguole "crowd, mass"). Sense of "sociable" first recorded 1789. Related: Gregariously; gregariousness.