Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use genial in a sentence

29 example sentences · adjective

Genial means friendly and cheerful; enlivening. Example: “There had been the shine of candles, and the laughter of the women, the old Judge's genial humor.”

Examples of genial by meaning

adjectiveFriendly and cheerful; enlivening.

  • a genial glow
  • There had been the shine of candles, and the laughter of the women, the old Judge's genial humor.1920, Temple Bailey, The Trumpeter Swan
  • Last month, Tucker Carlson’s genial interview with the white nationalist Nick Fuentes detonated a bomb that further fractured the Trump-era conservative movement he once helped galvanize.2025 November 15, Robert Draper, “Once He Was ‘Just Asking Questions.’ Now Tucker Carlson Is the Question.”, in The New York Times, New...

adjectiveMarked by genius.

  • About fifty years later, in 1675, the Danish astronomer Ole Roemer (1644-1710) had the genial idea of using astronomical rather than terrestrial distances.2003, Laura Fermi, Gilberto Bernardini, Galileo and the Scientific Revolution, Courier Dover Publications, page 111

More sentences with genial

  • Although most of Clowncore is genial, some express it with a darker twist.2020, Piper Dafforn, “At the Core”, in Season, volume 3, number 1 (Don’t Put Me on Hold!), pages 4 and 7. From the entry clowncore
  • Composed and genial, the Corries cut an impressive figure in the sun-drenched Haifa courthouse.2010 September 9, Karl Vick, “Israel's Military on the Spot Over Activist's Death”, in Time. From the entry cut a figure
  • A large, genial woman, she ruled the fort kitchen and its Indian helpers ironhandedly.2005, Marc Simmons, New Mexico Mavericks: Stories from a Fabled Past, →ISBN, page 51. From the entry ironhandedly
  • Ireland has a mild, genial and salubrious climate, I remember from my geography lessons.2001, Francis Forster, Cockles and Mussels, iUniverse →ISBN, page 133. From the entry salubrious
  • "The patient was almost certainly saved by his zipless zoot suit," said a genial surgeon.1994, Jeff Torrington, Swing hammer swing!. From the entry zipless
  • Maybe it’s the friendly atmosphere, with everyone being unbelievably genial to one another.1992 December 3, Fiona McCaw, “McGill is tops, says Board of Governors”, in The McGill Daily, volume 82, number 48, page 7. From the entry informalness
  • Fitzwilliam was of a genial, even playful, disposition, but he had come home brooding and depressed.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards…. From the entry brood
  • Gary Dahl, the man behind that scheme—described variously as a marketing genius and a genial mountebank—died on March 23 at 78.2015 March 31, Margalit Fox, “Gary Dahl, Inventor of the Pet Rock, Dies at 78”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry mountebank
  • Tristan, being a genial sort who had long ago learned the benefits ofkeeping his honest thoughts to himself, merely nodded.2010 September 14, Nina Ansley, The Plague of Provence, →ISBN, page 294. From the entry pigache
  • This genial, frail, chain-smoking septuagenarian is an agreeable, good-humoured conversationalist, who frequently punctuates proceedings with hearty, coughy chuckles.2005, Julian Baggini, Jeremy Stangroom, What philosophers think, page 215. From the entry coughy
  • The genial hotel manager of the past is no more.2004 December 13, Richard Schickel, “Not Just an African Story”, in Time. From the entry be
  • Hamlet is bitter, evasive, now backfooting them, now attacking, now genial - their job isn't going to be easy.1996, Kenneth Branagh, “The Film diaries”, in Hamlet, page 188. From the entry backfoot
  • Love and hate, male and female, lobster salad and champagne: this is Byron's object-world in genial rolling flux.1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae. From the entry object world
  • Genial lorry drivers, munching wurst high in their cabs, looking down on their secretive toing and froing with interest.1987, Christina Hardyment, “Picking up Gold and Silver”, in Heidi’s Alp: One Family’s Search for Storybook Europe, Book Club edition, New…. From the entry secretive
  • Though a pattern of respectability, he can grow genial in his cups, or as he would say “a wee tozy-mozy."1968, Cornelius Weygandt, A Century of the English Novel. From the entry tozy-mozy
  • That was years ago; today it still shows no sign of swinging back to a more genial and relaxed society.1961 November-December, John Koning, “The Withdrawl”, in Science-Fiction Five-Yearly, number 3, page 25. From the entry sercon
  • The genial ‘take a pew’ of one's equal inspires confidence.1903, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 16, in A Prefect's Uncle. From the entry take a pew
  • The genial, white-haired Malachy also enthralled the audience with grim jokes about how Henry VIII and Randolph Churchill died roaring from syphillis.1997 September 13, “The court of Malachy”, in The Irish Times. From the entry die roaring
  • With strong unconventionality and a somewhat abrupt manner, he was genial and kindly in his feelings, with warm affections and great companionability.1921, Charles A. Murdock, A Backward Glance at Eighty. From the entry companionability
  • "Hullo, Doc!" The Sheep King of Poison Creek waved a grimy, genial hand. ¶ "Hurry your infernal woolers along, can't you?" she yelled in response.1912, Caroline Lockhart, The Lady Doc, Philadelphia, P.A.; London: J. B. Lippincott Company, page 329. From the entry wooler
  • In walking toward this makeshift auction house myself, I am considering though, if it's just step one of a genial blowoff, though councluding it didn't feel like a blowoff.2020, Jason McGathey, Days Without End. From the entry blowoff
  • Like some of the underground comic books, Miller's work was heavy with raw id, but his genial angst-less style made itfamiliar and cheerful rather than dark and disturbing.2013, Ellin Stein, That's Not Funny, That's Sick. From the entry angstless
  • His intentions were apparently as antisplenetic as Sterne's, though his book turned out to be more genial than mirthful, and therefore decidedly less efficacious in fighting the spleen.1975, Susan G. Auty, The comic spirit of eighteenth-century novels, page 32. From the entry antisplenetic
  • Did she or her mother or a cousin require an escort—was there a little friendly service to be rendered, the genial and ubiquitous Monsieur Thuran was always available.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 110. From the entry did
  • Tall, largely built, handsome, genial, with liberal Virginian openness towards all he liked, he had also the Virginian habit of command and took leadership as his natural habit.1905, Henry Adams, chapter IV, in The Education of Henry Adams. From the entry southerner

Meaning of genial

  1. adjective Friendly and cheerful; enlivening.
  2. adjective Pleasantly mild and warm.
  3. adjective Marked by genius.

Full definition of genial

Questions about genial in a sentence

How do you use genial in a sentence?
Genial is used as an adjective. For example: “There had been the shine of candles, and the laughter of the women, the old Judge's genial humor.”
What is a short sentence with genial?
“a genial glow”
What does genial mean?
Genial means friendly and cheerful; enlivening.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: genial (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use genial in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/genial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.