Meaning & use
gregariousness
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Meanings
noununcountable
The quality of being friendly and enjoying the company of other people.
Grammar: Uncountable: no plural and no 'a' — say 'her gregariousness', not 'a gregariousness'.
Patterns
- the gregariousness of someone
- someone's gregariousness
Her gregariousness makes her the center of every party.
His gregariousness sometimes exhausts quieter colleagues.
The team valued her gregariousness when welcoming new members.
noununcountabletechnicalbiology
The tendency of animals to live and move in groups rather than alone.
Grammar: Used mainly in biology; still uncountable.
Patterns
- the gregariousness of a species
- show gregariousness
The gregariousness of these birds helps them find food and avoid predators.
Researchers measured the gregariousness of the fish by counting how often they schooled.
Wolves are known for their gregariousness during the winter months.
Common combinations
- natural gregariousness
- His natural gregariousness draws people to him.
- enjoy someone's gregariousness
- We all enjoy her gregariousness at family gatherings.
- a display of gregariousness
- The festival was a display of gregariousness and goodwill.
- the gregariousness of the species
- The gregariousness of the species makes it easy to study in the wild.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sociability
- Sociability is slightly more formal and often used in academic writing about how easily people mix with others.
- friendliness
- Friendliness emphasizes warmth and kindness rather than simply enjoying company; gregariousness focuses on seeking out groups.
- outgoingness
- Outgoingness is the everyday quality of being confident with others; gregariousness is more about liking to be in groups.
Opposites
Word family
- gregarious adjective
- Friendly and liking the company of other people.
- gregariously adverb
- In a friendly, group-loving way.
Commonly confused: gregariousness or gregarious?
gregariousness vs gregarious
Gregarious is the adjective; gregariousness is the noun. Say 'He is gregarious', not 'He is gregariousness'.
Practice
Her ______ made her the life of the party.
Choose one answer.
The sentence needs a noun after 'Her', so 'gregariousness' is correct. 'Gregarious' is an adjective and would need a noun after it, 'gregariously' is an adverb, and 'gregariousnesses' is not a real plural because the noun is uncountable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gregariousness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.