English Dictionary |
COMFORTABLE
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Dictionary entry overview: What does comfortable mean?
• COMFORTABLE (adjective)
The adjective COMFORTABLE has 5 senses:
1. providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief ('comfy' is informal)
2. free from stress or conducive to mental ease; having or affording peace of mind
4. sufficient to provide comfort
5. in fortunate circumstances financially; moderately rich
Familiarity information: COMFORTABLE used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Providing or experiencing physical well-being or relief ('comfy' is informal)
Synonyms:
comfortable; comfy
Context example:
feeling comfy now?
Similar:
cosy; cozy; snug (enjoying or affording comforting warmth and shelter especially in a small space)
easy (affording comfort)
homelike; homely; homey; homy (having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable)
soothing (affording physical relief)
Attribute:
comfort; comfortableness (a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Antonym:
uncomfortable (providing or experiencing physical discomfort)
Derivation:
comfortableness (a state of being relaxed and feeling no pain)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Free from stress or conducive to mental ease; having or affording peace of mind
Context example:
she felt comfortable with her fiance's parents
Similar:
comforted (made comfortable or more comfortable in a time of distress)
Also:
easy (free from worry or anxiety)
Antonym:
uncomfortable (conducive to or feeling mental discomfort)
Derivation:
comfortableness (a feeling of being at ease in a relationship)
Sense 3
Meaning:
More than adequate
Context example:
the home team had a comfortable lead
Similar:
wide (great in degree)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Sufficient to provide comfort
Context example:
a comfortable salary
Similar:
sufficient (of a quantity that can fulfill a need or requirement but without being abundant)
Sense 5
Meaning:
In fortunate circumstances financially; moderately rich
Synonyms:
comfortable; easy; prosperous; well-fixed; well-heeled; well-off; well-situated; well-to-do
Context example:
well-to-do members of the community
Similar:
rich (possessing material wealth)
Context examples
Such a number of women and children have no right to be comfortable on board.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
I had lived a placid, uneventful, sedentary existence all my days—the life of a scholar and a recluse on an assured and comfortable income.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Then I make a fire; and near it I make Madam Mina, now awake and more charming than ever, sit comfortable amid her rugs.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Presently she said, in the sweetest tone—How comfortable I am!
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The girls flew about, trying to make things comfortable, each in her own way.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I thought to have had such a comfortable evening with you, and here everything comes upon me at once.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
But he sent reply, saying that he was hungry and tired; also that his igloo was large and comfortable and could hold many men.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Both get very comfortable fees, and altogether they make a mighty snug little party.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
A minute later we were all seated in a comfortable landau, and were rattling through the quaint old Devonshire city.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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