Meaning & use
personality
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
The mix of habits, attitudes and feelings that makes one person behave and react differently from another.
Grammar: Uncountable for the general idea (personality matters); countable when comparing types (two very different personalities).
Patterns
- have a personality
- a personality type
- the personality of someone
Her calm personality made her the ideal person to lead the meeting.
The twins look identical, but their personalities could hardly be more different.
Some employers use a short test to learn about a candidate's personality.
noununcountableinformal
Charm, liveliness or an interesting character, especially when someone or something has plenty of it.
Grammar: Used without an or plural: She has lots of personality, not a personality.
Patterns
- have a lot of personality
- full of personality
The little cafe has so much personality that we go back every weekend.
He is a quiet speaker, but he has plenty of personality on stage.
A bright rug can give a plain room some personality.
nouncountable
A well-known person, especially someone who appears regularly on television, radio or in public life.
Grammar: Usually follows a describing word: a TV personality, a radio personality.
Patterns
- a TV personality
- a media personality
- a sporting personality
A famous television personality opened the new library.
The radio personality read the evening news for twenty years.
Several local personalities attended the charity dinner.
Word forms
| plural | personalities |
|---|
Common combinations
- strong personality
- The new manager has a strong personality and is not afraid to speak up.
- personality traits
- Patience and curiosity are personality traits that help in teaching.
- split personality
- People joked that the cat had a split personality, purring one minute and hissing the next.
- personality clash
- The project failed partly because of a personality clash between the two leaders.
- TV personality
- The TV personality launched her own cooking show.
- outgoing personality
- His outgoing personality helped him make friends on his first day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- character
- Character often stresses moral qualities such as honesty or courage, while personality is more about style and manner.
- temperament
- Temperament refers to the natural emotional tendencies a person is born with, a narrower idea than personality.
- nature
- Nature is the basic, lasting quality of a person, as in a kind nature, and is less often used with adjectives like strong or bubbly.
- celebrity
- Celebrity stresses fame itself, whereas a personality is known mainly for a media role.
Word family
- personal adjective
- belonging to or concerning one particular person
- personally adverb
- in person, or from your own point of view
- personalize verb
- to make something suit one particular person
- personable adjective
- having a pleasant, likable manner
- impersonal adjective
- without warmth or personal feeling
Commonly confused: personality or personnel? personality or mood?
personality vs personnel
Personnel means the people who work for an organization and is stressed on the last syllable; personality is about one individual's character.
personality vs mood
A mood is a temporary state of feeling, while personality is long-lasting.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'personality' to mean a famous person from the media?
Choose one answer.
Only 'a well-known radio personality' refers to a public figure. The other sentences use personality for character, charm or temperament.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “personality”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.