comfortable
- 1Providing physical ease and a pleasant feeling; agreeable to use or wear.
The hotel room was warm, quiet, and remarkably comfortable.
A comfortable pair of boots makes a long hike far more enjoyable.
UsageUsually compared with more comfortable and most comfortable; comfortabler is rare.
Similarcozy, snug, pleasant, restful, homey
Oppositeuncomfortable
Note
It describes the thing that gives ease, such as a bed, a chair, or a fire got going "nice and comfortable." That fire burns in Joseph C. Lincoln's Mr. Pratt's Patients (1913). Unlike being at ease, this meaning names the cause rather than the person who feels it. It is compared with more and most; comfortabler is rare.
- 2Feeling confident and relaxed, without worry about a person or situation.
He grew comfortable with the new software after a week of practice.
Investors are comfortable taking small risks when the market is stable.
UsageUse with a noun or an -ing verb after it: comfortable with change, comfortable speaking in public.
Similarconfident, relaxed, happy, secure, settled
Oppositeuneasy, uncomfortable, nervous, anxious
- 3Being in a state of physical ease and contentment, free from pain or worry.
After the long flight, he was finally comfortable in his own bed.
The patients seemed comfortable and calm once the nurse adjusted their pillows.
UsageOften in make yourself comfortable, a friendly way to invite a guest to relax.
Similarrelaxed, content, contented
Oppositeuncomfortable, restless, distressed
Note
Here the comfort sits in the person rather than the thing. A guest is comfortable in a room that is comfortable in the ease-giving meaning. In Marie Belloc Lowndes's The Lodger (1913), Mrs. Bunting wants her husband "to be comfortable after the day's work was done." The test is the subject. If a person or creature is feeling ease, it is this sense. If an object is giving ease, it is the other.
- 4Large enough to be more than adequate, providing ease and a sense of security.
The team finished with a comfortable lead over their rivals.
With a comfortable ten-point lead going into the final quarter, the coach decided to rest her starters.
UsageMostly with amounts and results: a comfortable lead, a comfortable margin, a comfortable win.
Similarample, healthy, safe, substantial, sizable
Oppositenarrow, slim, meager, slender
Note
Comfort turned into quantity: a comfortable margin, lead, victory or income is more than enough, with room to spare. In sports reporting it marks a result nobody needs to worry about. Ben Dirs, writing for BBC Sport in 2011, said England at first looked "destined for a comfortable victory" over Georgia.
- 5Financially secure enough to live at ease.
After thirty years of steady saving, they were comfortable enough to retire at sixty.
The new tax break mainly benefits comfortable middle-class households, not the very rich.
UsageA polite, modest way to say someone has enough money; people also say comfortably off.
Similarwell-off, prosperous, secure
Less common meanings
- 6Offering comfort or consolation; serving to console or reassure someone in distress.
Note
The active sense older texts expect: what gives comfort, not what feels pleasant. In The Anatomy of Melancholy, Robert Burton's "comfortable speeches" are words of consolation to a man in despair. Ann Radcliffe still uses it this way in 1791 for a message that brings relief. A modern reader who meets comfortable words in older prose should read them as consoling, not cozy.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Comfortable historically had the active sense of giving comfort or consolation. en.wiktionary.org
- Robert Burton wrote The Anatomy of Melancholy. en.wikipedia.org
- Burton uses the exact phrase “comfortable speeches” for words that console a despairing man; the speaker within the account is Plotinus. gutenberg.org
- Ann Radcliffe's relevant work, The Romance of the Forest, was first published in 1791. en.wikipedia.org
- Radcliffe uses comfortable for news bringing relief: Louis tells Theodore that a reprieve has been granted. gutenberg.org
- 7Serviceable and helpful; giving useful help or support to someone.
Be comfortable to my mother, your mistress, and make much of her.
c. 1604, William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”Note
A Shakespearean use, built with to and a person. In All's Well, that Ends Well, "Be comfortable to my mother, your mistress, and make much of her" asks someone to be of service and support to her. The construction is the clue. Comfortable to someone, meaning useful to them, has no modern counterpart and should not be read as "at ease with."
- 8Strong, vigorous, and brave; possessing physical strength or valor.
Thy conceit is nearer death than thy powers. For my sake be comfortable; hold death a while at the arm's end.
c. 1598, William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”Note
Shakespeare's comfortable can mean "take heart, stay strong." In As You Like It, "For my sake be comfortable; hold death a while at the arm's end" urges a failing man to keep up his strength, not to relax. Read it as a call to be valiant. Unlike the consoling sense, it names a quality in the person rather than something offered to them.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Shakespeare's comfortable can express an exhortation to take heart and stay strong. folger.edu
- The quotation occurs in Shakespeare's As You Like It; Orlando says it to Adam in Act II, scene vi. en.wiktionary.org
- The passage urges a physically failing man to persevere. folger.edu
- Comfortable has an obsolete sense meaning strong, vigorous, or valiant, illustrated by this passage. en.wiktionary.org
- This sense describes the person's quality, whereas the consoling sense describes something that provides comfort. en.wiktionary.org
- 9A stuffed or quilted coverlet used to cover a bed for warmth.
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Practice
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Origin
This word came into Middle English as comfortable from Old French confortable, from the verb conforter. By surface analysis it breaks down into comfort plus the suffix -able.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English comfortable derives through Middle English comfortable from Old French confortable. en.wiktionary.org
- Old French confortable derives from the verb conforter. en.wiktionary.org
- Comfortable can be analyzed on the surface as comfort plus -able. en.wiktionary.org