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.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊ.ʃəl/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -əʊʃəl

social (comparative more social, superlative most social)

2. Being extroverted or outgoing.

   James is a very social guy; he knows lots of people.

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:

     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.

4. Of or relating to society.
   • 2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 January 2012, page 70:

     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 epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.

   Teresa feels uncomfortable in certain social situations.

   Unemployment is a social problem.

6. (Internet) Relating to social media or social networks.

   social gaming

8. (rare) Relating to a nation's allies.

   the Social War

10. (biology) Cooperating or growing in groups.

    a social insect

• antisocial
• unsocial
• asocial

• sociality
• societal

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. (British, colloquial, with definite article) Ellipsis of social security.

   Fred hated going down to the social to sign on.

5. (US, colloquial) Ellipsis of social security number.

   What's your social? [asked so that the asker can look up your account details]

6. (dated, Ireland) A dinner dance event, usually held annually by a company or sporting club.
7. (Canada) Ellipsis of social studies.
9. (Internet, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of social media.
   • 2023 January 31, Casey Newton, quoting Kevin Systrom, “Instagram’s co-founders are back with Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text”, in The Verge‎^[2], archived from the original on 2 April 2024:

     “I saw that shift, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s the future of social,’” Systrom said.

10. (Internet, informal, countable) 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.

    • 2019 August 29, “Cheeto Christ Stupid Czar”, Randy Rainbow (lyrics), Andrew Lloyd Webber (music)‎^[3]performed by Randy Rainbow:

      Close your mouth and delete all your socials tonight.

    • 2025 May 13, Richard Fausset, “The Pope’s Florida Brother, a MAGA Disciple, Plans to ‘Tone It Down’”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 May 2025:

      Nearly a week after the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, the world is still adjusting to the fact that he has an American family that does typically American things. The Borgias, for all their many sins, never posted crude or spicy memes to the socials.

• dark social

• “social”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “social”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “social”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, retrieved 15 July 2017, reproduced from Collins English Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged, digital edition, [London]: HarperCollins, 2012.

• scolia

From Latin sociālis.

• IPA^(key): /soˈθjal/ [soˈθjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: so‧cial

social (epicene, plural sociales)

1. social

Borrowed from Latin sociālis. First attested in 1803.^[1]

• IPA^(key): (Central) [su.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [so.siˈal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

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• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: so‧ci‧al

social m or f (masculine and feminine plural socials)

1. social

• soci

• “social”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “social” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “social” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• so so

From English social or Clipping of English socialize or English sociable.

social

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) social; sociable; outgoing

social

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to socialize (to interact with others)

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese
• Robert S. Bauer (2010), “The Graphemic Representation of English Loanwords in Cantonese”, in Dialects in South East China, number 24, →JSTOR, pages 227-246

From French social, from Latin sociālis (“concerning a partner or an ally”), an adjective derived from the noun socius (“partner, ally”).

• IPA^(key): [soˈɕæˀl], [ɕoˈɕæˀl]

social (neuter socialt, plural and definite singular attributive sociale)

1. social
2. sociable

• “social” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “social” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

From Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion, companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, ally”).

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.sjal/

• Audio (Paris):

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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• Hyphenation: so‧cial
• Homophones: sociale, sociales

social (feminine sociale, masculine plural sociaux, feminine plural sociales)

1. social, related to society, community

   Un devoir social. ― A social obligation.

2. social, living in society

   l'homme est un animal social. ― Man is a social animal.

3. mundane, related to social life
   • 1922, Marcel Proust, Fugitive:

     Était-ce parce que la vie sociale de Gilberte devait présenter les mêmes contrastes que celle de Swann ?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• grégaire

• antisocial
• asocial

• → Dutch: sociaal
  • Afrikaans: sosiaal
  • → Indonesian: sosial
• → Romanian: social
• → Turkish: sosyal

social m (plural sociaux)

1. action intended to make society work better

   faire du social. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

• “social”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Learned borrowing from Latin sociālis.

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: so‧cial

social m or f (plural sociais)

1. social

• socializar
• socialmente

• “social”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Ellipsis of social network.

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social m

1. social network
   • 2019 October 1, “Zuckerberg è pronto alla battaglia contro Warren e TikTok (e Facebook non perde utenti)”, in Corriere della Sera‎^[5]:

     TikTok è sia la prima piattaforma cinese a imporsi nel resto del mondo sia l’unico social a ottenere numeri finora inanellati solo da Menlo Park (500 milioni di utenti), eppure non sembra causare particolari grattacapi.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (in the plural) social media

   postare sui social ― to post on social media

   • 2018 January 25, ““Un inconveniente tecnico”: il tweet di Trenord fa infuriare i social, poi le scuse”, in La Stampa‎^[6]:

     «Circolazione interrotta tra Treviglio e Milano a causa di un inconveniente tecnico a un treno»: è il tweet di Trenord delle 8.09 che ha fatto infuriare i social dopo il deragliamento a Seggiano di Pioltello.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Alciso, lascio, lasciò, licosa, olisca, salcio, salico, scialo, scialo-, scialò, scolai, solcai

First known attestation 1355,^[1] borrowed from Latin sociālis.

social m (feminine singular sociale, masculine plural sociaulx, feminine plural sociales)

1. allied (on the same side)
2. social (tending to spend time with others)

• → English: social
• French: social

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “social”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.

• sociau (Gascony)

From Latin sociālis.

• IPA^(key): [suˈsjal]

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social m (feminine singular sociala, masculine plural socials, feminine plural socialas)

1. social (relating to society)

• IPA^(key): /suˈt͡ʃal/

social

1. social

From Latin sociālis. By surface analysis, sócio +‎ -al.

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

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• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: so‧ci‧al

social m or f (plural sociais)

1. social (relating to society)
2. (business) social (relating to business firms)
3. (clothing, said of clothes) formal, suitable for social occasions
4. social; outgoing; extroverted

   Synonyms: sociável, extrovertido

   Antonym: associal

5. (ecology) social (living in large groups)
6. (Brazil) for use by the residents of an apartment block, as opposed to maintenance workers or deliverymen

   Elevador social. ― Residents’ lift.

• sócio

social m or f (plural sociais)

1. (Brazil, informal) a small party between close people or friends

• “social”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “social” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “social”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from French social.

• IPA^(key): /ˌso.t͡ʃiˈal/

social m or n (feminine singular socială, masculine plural sociali, feminine/neuter plural sociale)

1. social (of or relating to society)

• “social”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

From Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion, companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, ally”).

• IPA^(key): /soˈθjal/ [soˈθjal] (Spain, Equatorial Guinea)
• IPA^(key): /soˈsjal/ [soˈsjal] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: so‧cial

social m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociales)

1. social

• “social”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• IPA^(key): /sosiˈɑːl/, /soˈɧɑːl/

• Audio:

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social (comparative mer social, superlative mest social)

1. (not comparable) social, pertaining to living conditions and society (of an issue)
2. social, kind, friendly, welcoming, outgoing (of a person)

   Synonyms: utåtriktad, sällskaplig, föreningsintresserad

• social in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• social in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)