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HOSPITABLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Favorable to life and growth
Example:
a hospitable environment
Classified under:
Similar:
genial; kind (agreeable, conducive to comfort)
Antonym:
inhospitable (unfavorable to life or growth)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Disposed to treat guests and strangers with cordiality and generosity
Example:
hospitable invitations
Classified under:
Similar:
welcoming (very cordial)
Also:
friendly (characteristic of or befitting a friend)
Antonym:
inhospitable (not hospitable)
Derivation:
hospitableness (having a disposition that welcomes guests and is fond of entertaining)
hospitality (kindness in welcoming guests or strangers)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Having an open mind
Example:
open to suggestions
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
open; receptive (ready or willing to receive favorably)
Context examples:
The transition to fungiculture helped termites disperse to less hospitable dry savannas, and eventually to migrate out of Africa and into Asia.
(Researchers discover oldest evidence of 'farming' by insects, NSF)
Several times during the preparation of my supper he even essayed hospitable inquiries about my health, the condition and number of my dogs, and the distance I had travelled that day.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
"This symbiotic process enables the clams and bacteria to live in environments that are not necessarily hospitable," said Clemson University biologist Barbara Campbell.
(Microbe diversity is key to healthy coastal ecosystems, National Science Foundation)
In his hospitable Fazenda we spent our time until the day when we were empowered to open the letter of instructions given to us by Professor Challenger.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At his and Mrs. Jennings's united request in return, Mrs. Dashwood was prevailed on to accept the use of his carriage on her journey back, for the better accommodation of her sick child; and the Colonel, at the joint invitation of Mrs. Dashwood and Mrs. Jennings, whose active good-nature made her friendly and hospitable for other people as well as herself, engaged with pleasure to redeem it by a visit at the cottage, in the course of a few weeks.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Charming people, Mr. and Mrs. Weston;—Mrs. Weston indeed is much beyond praise, and he is exactly what one values, so hospitable, and so fond of society;—it will be a small party, but where small parties are select, they are perhaps the most agreeable of any.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
The team was surprised to discover higher-than-expected concentrations of colubroid snakes, suggesting the local environment was more open and seasonally dry, thus more hospitable to these types of active hunting snakes that don't require cover to ambush prey like boas and pythons do.
(Researchers find oldest fossil evidence of modern African venomous snakes, NSF)
Thomas and his wife are hospitable folk, elderly, and without children, and if the specimen I enjoyed of their hospitality be of the average kind, their lives must be pretty comfortable.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
They have used an ocean circulation model to identify which planets will have the most efficient upwelling and thus offer particularly hospitable oceans.
(Some Exoplanets May Have Greater Variety of Life than Exists on Earth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
For poverty enriches those who live above it, and is a sure passport to truly hospitable spirits.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
