personal

Syllables: per·son·al·,·perso·nalUK/ˈpɜː.sə.nəl//ˈpɜɹ.sə.nəl/

personal adjective: pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).

Adjective

personal (comparative more personal, superlative most personal)

Pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
Of or pertaining to a particular person; relating to, or affecting, an individual, or each of many individuals
- personal values; personal desire
- Her song was her personal look at the values of friendship.
Dealing with subjects about which one wishes (or people usually wish) to maintain privacy or discretion; not for public view; sensitive, intimate.
- personal reasons
- You can't read my diary—it is personal.
(euphemistic) Intended for sexual use.
- personal lubricant; personal massager
Pertaining to the external or bodily appearance; corporeal; bodily.
- personal charms
- The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC
Done in person; without an intermediary.
- a personal interview
- a personal meeting
Relating to an individual, their character, conduct, motives, or private affairs, in an invidious and offensive manner
- personal reflections or remarks
- Only factual argumentation, no need to get personal.
Of a noun or pronoun, having reference particular to humans and other entities having personality such as a named animal, a deity, a personification, etc.
Related to grammatical first, second, etc. persons.
- a personal pronoun
Denoting ownership.
- one's personal vehicle, as opposed to a company vehicle

Noun

personal (plural personals)

(in plural) An advertisement by which an individual attempts to meet others with similar interests.
One's own property or asset
- In addition to this, a coarse shirt quite new, a pair of my father's shoes quite old, and, what rejoiced me more than all the rest, a rouleau of twenty rials in a linen rag. Behold the sum total of my personals.1748, Tobias Smollett (translator), Alain-René Lesage (original), The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane
- I've had my cell ransacked, savagely searched, and as a result, had my legal papers stolen and destroyed, allong with what little personal clothing and other personals I had.1982 April 10, Roosevelt Williamson, “Prison Racism and Legal Slavery in America”, in Gay Community News, page 15

personal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

personal in Hindi

of or pertaining to a particular person: व्यक्तिगत vyaktigat
dealing with subjects about which one wishes to maintain privacy or discretion: व्यक्तिगत vyaktigat

personal in Marathi

of or pertaining to a particular person: व्यक्तिगत vyaktigat

personal in Urdu

personal, private, unofficial, confidential: نجی nijī
personal, private: خصوصی xusūsī
personal: ذاتی zātī

More languagesFewer languages

personal in Bengali: ব্যক্তিগত bêktigôtô
personal in Telugu: వ్యక్తిగతము vyaktigatamu, స్వయము svayamu
personal in Malayalam: വ്യക്തിപരമായ
personal in Kannada: ಖಾಸಗಿ khāsagi
personal in Punjabi: ਨਿੱਜੀ
personal in Gujarati: વ્યક્તિગત vyaktigat
personal in Odia: ବ୍ଯ଼କ୍ତିଗତ
personal in Assamese: ভিতৰুৱা bhitorua, নিজা niza
personal in Nepali: व्यक्तिगत
personal in Tagalog: pansarili, personal
personal in Arabic: شَخْصِيّ šaḵṣiyy
personal in Persian: شخصی šaxsi
personal in Thai: ส่วนตัว sùuan-dtuua

Examples of personal in a sentence

That's a very personal question.
I can't believe you went through my drawers and looked at all my personal things!
Despite personal schisms and differences in spiritual experience, there is a very coherent theology of Snape shared between the wives.2014 March 3, Zoe Alderton, “‘Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion within the Harry Potter Fandom”, in Religions, volume 5...
Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf.2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better, Plum, →ISBN, page 192:
Although you miss the nonverbal cues that you pick up in a personal meeting, you can call far more clients in a day than you can meet with in person.2011, Bob Nelson, Peter Economy, Consulting For Dummies:

All 40 example sentences with personal

Forms of personal

Adjective
comparative	more personal
superlative	most personal
alternative form (obsolete)	personall
Noun
plural	personals

Plural of personal: personals

Origin of personal

From Middle English personal, personele, from Anglo-Norman personel, personal, personell, Old French personal, personel, from Late Latin persōnālis (“of a person, personly”), equivalent to person + -al. Doublet of personnel.

Words formed from personal

Phrases with personal

98 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about personal

What does personal mean?: Personal means pertaining to persons (human beings as opposed to things or animals).
What is personal in Hindi?: Personal in Hindi is व्यक्तिगत (vyaktigat). See Personal meaning in Hindi.
How do you use personal in a sentence?: That's a very personal question.
What part of speech is personal?: Personal can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce personal?: Personal is pronounced /ˈpɜː.sə.nəl/ (UK).

Words near personal in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-personal.ogg.

Cite this entry: “personal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/personal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.