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Amicable vs Benign - What's the difference?

amicable | benign |

As adjectives the difference between amicable and benign

is that amicable is showing friendliness or goodwill while benign is kind; gentle; mild.

amicable

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Showing friendliness or goodwill.
    • They hoped to reach an amicable agreement.
    He was an amicable fellow with an easy smile.

    Usage notes

    Amicable is particularly used of relationships or agreements (especially legal proceedings, such as divorce), with meaning ranging from simply “not quarrelsome, mutually consenting” to “quite friendly”. By contrast, the similar term amiable is especially used to mean “pleasant, lovable”, such as an “amiable smile”.The Penguin Wordmaster Dictionary,'' Martin Manser and Nigel Turton, eds., 1987, cited in “ Wordmaster: amiable, amicable]”, ''[http://itsmypulp.wordpress.com/ all songs lead back t' the sea], 23 Oct 2009, by [http://itsmypulp.wordpress.com/author/itsmypulp/ NTWrong

    Derived terms

    * amicability * amicableness * amicable number * amicably

    Related terms

    * amiable * amity

    References

    External links

    * * *

    benign

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Kind; gentle; mild.
  • * (of a climate or environment) mild and favorable
  • * not harmful to the environment: [in combination] an ozone-benign refrigerant.
  • (medicine) Not posing any serious threat to health; not particularly aggressive or recurrent.

    • Antonyms

    * malign * malignant

    Derived terms

    * benignly * benignant * benignity * benign neglect * benign tumor