personality
Pluralpersonalities
- 1The combination of mental and social qualities that make one person different from another.
His calm personality helps him stay relaxed under pressure.
Psychologists study how personality develops during childhood.
UsageOne person has a personality (a strong personality); the general idea takes no article: how personality develops.
Similarcharacter, nature, temperament, disposition, makeup
Note
A word older than psychology, it came into Middle English as personalite, ultimately from Latin persōnālitās, and English speakers can read it as personal plus -ity. Coleridge used it philosophically for individuality existing in itself. It works two ways in grammar: uncountable for the general idea (personality develops in childhood) and countable for one person's version (a unique personality, two very different personalities).
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Personality predates the English word psychology: personality is attested in the late fourteenth century, psychology in 1694. en.wikipedia.org
- Personality descends from Middle English personalite and ultimately from Latin persōnālitās. en.wiktionary.org
- Personal + -ity is a modern surface analysis; the word was borrowed through French from Latin. en.wiktionary.org
- Coleridge used personality philosophically to mean individuality existing in itself. gutenberg.org
- The primary edition's editor dates the notes on Field to about 1814, and the text includes additions dated 1819. Remove the unsupported 1828 date. gutenberg.org
- 2A celebrity, especially one with a strong presence in the media, such as an actor, singer, or athlete.
The festival invited a well-known personality to host the awards.
Several media personalities attended the charity gala.
UsageUsually with a word for the field: a TV personality, a sports personality, media personalities.
- 3Lively, appealing force of character that some people have more of than others and that makes them stand out from a crowd; charisma.
The new manager brought personality and energy to a dull office.
Great talk-show hosts succeed on personality more than looks.
UsageUsually without a: someone has personality or a lot of personality. Everyone has a personality; having personality is praise.
Similarcharisma, charm, presence, magnetism
Note
Here the word stops describing and starts praising. It is mostly uncountable and behaves like a quantity: someone has personality, shows more personality, or has a lot of it. Lloyd Price's 1959 song Personality simply credits the person it addresses with having it. Quantity words mark the difference from the general sense: everyone has a personality, but having a lot of personality, or real personality, is a compliment.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Lloyd Price released the song Personality in 1959. en.wikipedia.org
- The song attributes personality to the person addressed. en.wiktionary.org
- 4The combination of qualities that make something distinctive or interesting.
The architect gave each building its own personality.
Bright tiles and odd angles give the kitchen real personality.
UsageOften in have (a lot of) personality, give something personality, or with no personality.
Similarcharacter
- 5A role or way of behaving that a person takes on rather than their natural one.
The radio host's on-air personality, brash and fast-talking, had little in common with the soft-spoken man off the air.
Online, many people adopt a bolder personality than they show in person.
UsageOften with a word for the setting: an on-air personality, an online personality.
- 6In law, the standing of an entity treated as a legal person, able to hold rights and owe duties, such as a company or other body that is not a human being.
Once registered, the company acquires separate legal personality and can sue in its own name.
The treaty gave the new organization international legal personality, allowing it to sign agreements with states.
Note
This is what lets the law treat a group as a single actor, apart from the people who make it up. A company that has it can own property, sign contracts and sue or be sued in its own name. The word seldom stands alone here: lawyers speak of legal personality, separate legal personality or corporate personality, and of a body acquiring it or being granted it.
Less common meanings
- 7A remark, especially an offensive or disparaging one, directed at a specific person rather than at issues or arguments.
Sharp personalities were exchanged.
1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the SecondPerceiving that personalities were not out of order, I asked him what species of beast had long ago twisted and mutilated his left ear.
1905, O. Henry, TelemachusSimilarinsult, aspersion, slur, slight
Note
This is an old word for mudslinging, in use by the 1760s and now dated. It is usually plural and comes with verbs of trading or giving way: in Macaulay, sharp personalities were exchanged, and a speaker could be accused of indulgence in personalities. O. Henry still uses it in a story collected in Heart of the West (1907). Modern readers may take it to mean people, so the surrounding words have to make the sense clear.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- This sense was already used in the eighteenth century: William Draper's letter dated 7 October 1769 contains it. en.wikisource.org
- Macaulay wrote that sharp personalities were exchanged. gutenberg.org
- The expression 'indulgence in personalities' exemplifies this sense. en.wiktionary.org
- O. Henry uses this sense in a story collected in Heart of the West. gutenberg.org
- Heart of the West was first published in 1907. library.austintexas.gov
- 8A humorous word for a woman's breasts; occasionally, a single breast.
The comedian joked that the dress did little to hide her personality.
He grinned and said the new top really flattered her personality.
Similarboobs, breasts, bust, bosom, boobies
Note
An online joke borrows the compliment of the charisma meaning and points it somewhere else. Writers flag the switch with a pause or scare quotes (a fine... er, "personality") and pair it with size words: huge, massive, two huge "personalities." The humor depends on the double meaning being obvious, and outside joking company it reads as crude rather than clever.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The illustrative wording uses a pause and quotation marks around 'personality'. en.wiktionary.org
- An example pairs 'personality' with 'massive'. en.wiktionary.org
- An example uses 'two huge "personalities"'. en.wiktionary.org
- 9In law, the quality of a statute that concerns the condition, state, and legal capacity of persons.
Practice
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Origin
First recorded in Middle English as "personalite" between about 1350 and 1400, borrowed through Middle French from Latin "personalitas"; its form can be read as "personal" plus the suffix "-ity".