social.
Being extroverted or outgoing.
Meaning & usage
Being extroverted or outgoing.
James is a very social guy; he knows lots of people.
Of or relating to society.
Teresa feels uncomfortable in certain social situations.
Unemployment is a social problem.
Relating to social media or social networks.
social gaming
Relating to a nation's allies.
Cooperating or growing in groups.
a social insect
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *sokʷéh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ṓy Proto-Indo-European *sokʷh₂ṓy Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Indo-European *sokʷyós Proto-Italic *sokjos Latin sokios Latin socius Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sociālisbor. Middle French socialbor. English social From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fellow”). More at seg.
A festive gathering to foster introductions.
They organized a social at the dance club to help people get to know one another.
A dance held to raise money, often held for a couple to be married.
Ellipsis of social security.
Fred hated going down to the social to sign on.
Ellipsis of social security number.
What's your social? [asked so that the asker can look up your account details]
A dinner dance event, usually held annually by a company or sporting club.
Ellipsis of social studies.
Ellipsis of social media.
A social media account; the username or handle thereof, or a link thereto.
Also check out some other experts in this topic — their socials are in the pinned comment below.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *sokʷéh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ṓy Proto-Indo-European *sokʷh₂ṓy Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Indo-European *sokʷyós Proto-Italic *sokjos Latin sokios Latin socius Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sociālisbor. Middle French socialbor. English social From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fellow”). More at seg.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.