personal
Noun pluralpersonals
Often confused with personnel
Pluralpersonals
- 1Relating to, affecting, or belonging to a particular person, or to each person individually.
In my personal experience, the early morning train is usually less crowded.
The choice was a personal one that affected only her future.
UsageCommon in personal experience, personal opinion, personal best. Don't confuse it with personnel (staff).
Similarindividual, private, own
Oppositepublic, general, collective, shared
- 2Dealing with subjects one wishes to keep private; not for public view; sensitive or intimate.
When the reporter asked about her divorce, the actress said the question was too personal to discuss on air.
The letter touched on personal matters she had never discussed openly.
UsageCommon in a personal question, too personal, deeply personal.
Similarprivate, intimate, sensitive, confidential
Oppositepublic
- 3
- 4Aimed at an individual's character, conduct, or private affairs in a hurtful, offensive way.
The critique grew personal, dwelling on the author's looks instead of the book.
She objected that his attack had become personal rather than political.
UsageOften get personal or make it personal; also a personal attack. It usually shows disapproval.
Similaroffensive, insulting, hurtful, disparaging
- 5Done in person, without anyone acting as a go-between.
Rather than sending an aide, the governor paid a personal visit to every family that lost a home in the fire.
He delivered a personal apology rather than sending an email.
UsageUsually before a noun: a personal visit, a personal apology, a personal appearance.
Similardirect, in-person, face-to-face
Oppositeindirect
- 6A short advertisement, in a newspaper, magazine, or website, placed by someone hoping to find a romantic partner or a friend; usually in the plural.
Back then, a clever personal could fill your weekend with blind dates.
Lonely after the move, she answered a personal in the Sunday paper.
UsageMost often the personals (the column of ads) or a personal ad.
Similarad, advertisement, classified
- 7Relating to persons, or having the nature or qualities of a person, rather than of a thing.
The theologian argued for a personal deity who relates to each believer.
Unlike the blind forces of nature, the gods in these old myths are fully personal beings who love, quarrel, and take revenge.
Oppositeimpersonal
Note
The sense closest to the word's origin, and the one its history explains. Middle English personal came through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Late Latin persōnālis, "of a person", which is simply person plus -al. It marks the line between someone and something, which is why a personal deity is one imagined as a who. The same Latin word also gave English personnel, its doublet.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- Middle English personal derives through Anglo-Norman and Old French from Late Latin persōnālis, meaning 'of a person'. en.wiktionary.org
- The formation corresponds to person plus -al. en.wiktionary.org
- A personal deity is conceived as a person. en.wikipedia.org
- Personnel derives ultimately from the same Latin word and is a doublet of personal. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 8In grammar, relating to the first, second, and third persons.
The chart listed each personal pronoun in its subject and object forms.
Many languages mark personal distinctions on the verb itself.
UsageMostly in personal pronoun: I, you, she, it.
Note
The sense behind the familiar label personal pronoun. Person here is a grammatical category. It sorts the speaker (first person), the addressee (second) and everyone or everything else (third). Languages mark it on pronouns and often on verb agreement as well. The term therefore covers forms that refer to things too. What makes a pronoun personal is its place in that system, not a human referent.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Grammatical person distinguishes the speaker, addressee, and others as first, second, and third person. en.wikipedia.org
- Languages express grammatical person in pronouns and frequently in verb agreement. en.wikipedia.org
- Personal pronouns are classified by grammatical person and can refer to things rather than humans. en.wikipedia.org
- 9In grammar, describing a noun or pronoun that refers to humans or other beings treated as persons, such as a named animal or a deity.
Grammars of English describe 'who' as personal and 'which' as nonpersonal, though named pets often get 'who.'
Editors classed the deity's name among the personal nouns.
Note
A grammarian's distinction about what a word refers to, not how it is inflected. Nouns and pronouns are personal in this sense when they point at beings with personality: humans, a deity, a personification, a named animal. Do not confuse it with the grammatical-person meaning, which gives us the term personal pronoun. In that sense the pronoun 'it' is a personal pronoun, yet it is not personal in this one.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- This grammatical distinction concerns the referent, including humans, deities, personifications and named animals. en.wiktionary.org
- The term personal pronoun uses the separate grammatical-person meaning; it belongs to that class without ordinarily referring to a person. en.wikipedia.org
- 10An item of property or an asset that is one's own; used almost always in the plural.
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, Roosevelt Williamson, “Prison Racism and Legal Slavery in America”Similarbelongings, possessions, effects, things
Note
A noun made from the adjective of ownership, naming the owned thing itself, and it is nearly always plural. Roosevelt Williamson, writing in 1982 of a ransacked prison cell, lost "personal clothing and other personals." It works as a compact stand-in for personal belongings. The plural shares its spelling with the dating-ad sense, and context tells the two apart.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Roosevelt Williamson wrote in 1982 about his cell being ransacked and losing possessions, using the exact words quoted. en.wiktionary.org
- The quotation contains the exact phrase personal clothing and other personals. en.wiktionary.org
- 11Describing products discreetly marketed for sexual use.
The drugstore keeps personal lubricants and condoms on the same discreet shelf near the pharmacy counter.
The catalog listed personal massagers in a plainly labeled section near the back.
Similarintimate
Note
A euphemism that borrows the discretion of the "private" meaning to name sexual products without naming sex: personal lubricant, personal massager. It belongs to packaging, shop shelves and advertising, where its vagueness is the point. Out of that setting the same phrase can sound innocent, so a phrase like personal products may be read either way. When clarity matters more than discretion, plainer words avoid the ambiguity.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English personal, borrowed via Anglo-Norman and Old French personel from Late Latin persōnālis ('of a person'), equivalent to person plus the suffix -al. It is a doublet of personnel.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Personal comes from Middle English through Anglo-Norman and Old French, ultimately from Late Latin persōnālis, meaning 'of a person'. en.wiktionary.org
- Personal is equivalent in formation to person plus -al. en.wiktionary.org
- Personal and personnel are doublets. en.wiktionary.org