fa-, fam-, fan-, fant-, fat-, -fess; fab-, fabul-

The quality of being friendly or easy to get along with; readiness to converse or be addressed; especially, by inferiors or equals; courteousness, civility, openness of manner.

Showing warmth and friendliness; kindly; mild; benign: "As the supervisor, Mike Black was always affable with his subordinates in that he was always civil and courteous when he had conversations with them." © ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

Having the characteristics of being friendly and easy to approach and to talk to.

In a manner indicating willingness to converse courteously and in a friendly way: "Sadie greeted her new neighbors affably as she welcomed them to her community."

1. To discuss or to have a chat about something.
2. To give fictitious accounts of past events, believing they are true, in order to cover a gap in the memory caused by a medical condition such as dementia.
3. To unconsciously replace fact with fantasy in one's memory.
4. To have a conference in order to talk something over.
5. To talk socially without exchanging too much information.

1. The act of having a conversation or a discussion.
2. In psychiatry, the replacement of a gap in a person's memory by a falsification that he or she believes to be true.

1. To declare or disclose (something which one has kept or allowed to remain secret as being prejudicial or inconvenient to oneself); to acknowledge, own, or admit (a crime, charge, fault, weakness, or the like).
2. To acknowledge or formally recognize (a person or thing) as having a certain character or certain claims; to own, avow, declare belief in or adhesion to.
3. In religion, to acknowledge sins orally as a religious duty, with repentance and desire of absolution.
4. To make formal confession of sins; especially, to a priest, in order to receive penance and absolution.

Primarily in the Roman Catholic Church, a person who admits having committed a sin, or sins, to a priest: "Merle was acknowledging, repenting, and seeking God's forgiveness for his mistakes."

1. By acknowledgment or admittedly.
2. Used to indicate that something is admitted to be the case.

1. An admission of having done something wrong or embarrassing.
2. In law, a voluntary written or verbal statement admitting the commission of a crime.
3. A profession of emotions or beliefs; such as, love, loyalty, or faith.
4. A formal declaration of sins confidentially to a priest or to God.

Relating to, or being, something intimately autobiographical in nature or content: "Laurence wrote a confessional about his private life in his autobiography."

A booth where a priest sits to hear believers declare their sins and to seek God's forgiveness: "Celia went to the confessional regularly where a priest heard her admit her short comings and to seek forgiveness."

1. A person to whom someone else confides her/his personal problems.
2. Someone who makes a confession or who makes a formal statement admitting that he/she is guilty of a crime.
3. A priest who hears confessions and sometimes acts as a spiritual adviser.

1. A verbal or written attack on someone’s good name, character, or reputation.
2. Communicated damage to the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.

Harmful statements regarding someone's good name, character, or reputation: "During the Presidential elections, people hear many defamatory remarks being by each candidate about the one who is running against him or her." © ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
for a list of additional Mickey Bach illustrations.