Definition of "affability"
affability
noun
countable and uncountable, plural affabilities
The state or quality of being affable, friendly, or approachable.
Quotations
O conspiracy,Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,When evils are most free? O, then by dayWhere wilt thou find a cavern dark enoughTo mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;Hide it in smiles and affability:
1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i]
The Landlady […] was not without some Concern for the Confinement of poor Sophia, of whose great Sweetness of Temper and Affability the Maid of the House had made so favourable a Report, which was confirmed by all the Squire’s Servants […]
1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 3, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], book 16, page 191
[…] he would sometimes pass me haughtily and coldly, just acknowledging my presence by a distant nod or a cool glance, and sometimes bow and smile with gentlemanlike affability.
1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XIV, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], page 251