Word.ws English Dictionary

social

UK/ˈsəʊ.ʃəl//ˈsoʊ.ʃəl/

social adjective: being extroverted or outgoing. Also the ellipsis of social security.

Adjective

social (comparative more social, superlative most social)

  1. Being extroverted or outgoing.
    • James is a very social guy; he knows lots of people.
    • Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1
  2. Of or relating to society.
    • Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the...2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2012, page 70
    • Teresa feels uncomfortable in certain social situations.
  3. (Internet) Relating to social media or social networks.
    • social gaming
  4. (rare) Relating to a nation's allies.
    • the Social War
  5. Cooperating or growing in groups.
    • a social insect

Noun

social (countable and uncountable, plural socials)

  1. A festive gathering to foster introductions.
    • They organized a social at the dance club to help people get to know one another.
  2. (Canadian-Prairies) A dance held to raise money, often held for a couple to be married.
  3. (Ireland, dated) A dinner dance event, usually held annually by a company or sporting club.
  4. (Internet, countable, informal) 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.
    • Close your mouth and delete all your socials tonight.2019 August 29, “Cheeto Christ Stupid Czar”, Randy Rainbow (lyrics), Andrew Lloyd Webber (music)performed by Randy Rainbow

Also used as

social is also the ellipsis of social security.

social is also the ellipsis of social security number.

social is also the ellipsis of social studies.

social is also the ellipsis of social media.

social meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

social in Hindi

extroverted or outgoing
मिलनसार milansār
relating to society
सामाजिक sāmājik

social in Tamil

சமூக

social in Marathi

relating to society
सामाजिक sāmājik
internet: relating to social media or social networks
सोशल sośal

social in Urdu

extroverted or outgoing
ملنسار milansār
relating to society
مَجْلِسی majlisī, سوشَل sośal, اِجْتِماعی ijtimā'ī, سماجی samājī, معاشرتی mu'āśaratī
More languagesFewer languages
social in Bengali
সামাজিক
social in Telugu
సాంఘిక sāṅghika, సాంఘికము sāṅghikamu
social in Malayalam
സാമൂഹികം, സാമൂഹിക
social in Kannada
ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ
social in Punjabi
ਸਮਾਜਿਕ
social in Gujarati
સામાજિક, સામાજીક
social in Odia
ସାମାଜିକ
social in Nepali
सामाजिक, सामाजिकी
social in Tagalog
ulnungin, panlipunan, ulnayin, ulnayanin
social in Arabic
مُجْتَمَعِيّ mujtamaʕiyy, اِجْتِمَاعِيّ ijtimāʕiyy
social in Vietnamese
xã hội

Examples of social in a sentence

  • Unemployment is a social problem.
  • We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water.2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26...
  • The Borgias, for all their many sins, never posted crude or spicy memes to the socials.2025 May 13, Richard Fausset, “The Pope’s Florida Brother, a MAGA Disciple, Plans to ‘Tone It Down’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN...

All 40 example sentences with social

Antonyms of social

Forms of social

Adjective
comparativemore social
superlativemost social
Noun
pluralsocials

Origin of 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.

Words formed from social

Phrases with social

168 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with social

Questions about social

What does social mean?
Social means being extroverted or outgoing.
What is social in Hindi?
Social in Hindi is मिलनसार (milansār), सामाजिक (sāmājik). See Social meaning in Hindi.
How do you use social in a sentence?
Unemployment is a social problem.
What part of speech is social?
Social can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce social?
Social is pronounced /ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/ (UK).

Words near social in the dictionary

  1. sociable weaverbirds
  2. sociable weavers
  3. sociableness
  4. sociables
  5. sociably
  6. social
  7. social (pragmatic) communication disorder
  8. social action
  9. social alienation
  10. social alienations
  11. social anthropologist

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: social (page history and authors); social (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); social (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); social (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); social (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); social (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); social (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); social (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); social (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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

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