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Familiar vs Comfortable - What's the difference?

familiar | comfortable |

In obsolete terms the difference between familiar and comfortable

is that familiar is a close friend while comfortable is serviceable; helpful.

familiar

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Known to one.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
  • Acquainted.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.}}
  • Intimate or friendly.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Be thou familiar , but by no means vulgar.
  • Inappropriately intimate or friendly.
  • (Camden)
  • Of or pertaining to a family; familial.
  • * Byron
  • familiar feuds

    Synonyms

    * (acquainted) acquainted * close, friendly, intimate, personal * (inappropriately intimate or friendly) cheeky, fresh, impudent

    Antonyms

    * (known to one) unfamiliar, unknown * (acquainted) unacquainted * (intimate) cold, cool, distant, impersonal, standoffish, unfriendly

    Derived terms

    * overfamiliar * familiarity * familiarly

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A member of one's family or household.
  • (obsolete) A close friend.
  • *, II.i.4.2:
  • a friend of mine, that finding a receipt in Brassavola, would needs take hellebore in substance, and try it on his own person; but had not some of his familiars come to visit him by chance, he had by his indiscretion hazarded himself; many such I have observed.
  • An attendant spirit, often in animal form.
  • The witch’s familiar was a black cat.

    comfortable

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • (lb) Comforting, providing comfort; consolatory.
  • *, II.2.6.ii:
  • *:he was going to make away himself; but meeting by chance his master Plotinus, who, perceiving by his distracted looks all was not well, urged him to confess his grief; which when he had heard, he used such comfortable speeches, that he redeemed him e faucibus Erebi .
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:a comfortable provision made for their subsistence
  • Amply sufficient, satisfactory.
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , passage=When Hape sauntered over for a try after only three minutes it looked as if England were destined for a comfortable victory, but Georgia are made of sterner stuff, as they showed when running Scotland close in Invercargill last week.}}
  • Providing physical comfort and ease; agreeable.
  • :
  • *, chapter=8
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=We toted in the wood and got the fire going nice and comfortable . Lord James still set in one of the chairs and Applegate had cabbaged the other and was hugging the stove.}}
  • In a state of comfort and content.
  • :
  • *
  • *:A great bargain also had beenthe arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.
  • (lb) Strong; vigorous; valiant.
  • :(Wyclif)
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Thy conceit is nearer death than thy powers. For my sake be comfortable ; hold death a while at the arm's end.
  • (lb) Serviceable; helpful.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:Be comfortable to my mother, your mistress, and make much of her.
  • Synonyms

    * comforting, comfy, cozy, eathful, restful, snug, cushy * (safely reliable) safe

    Antonyms

    * comfortless, uncomfortable

    Derived terms

    * comfortability * comfortable in one's own skin * comfortableness * comfortably * comfy

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (US) A stuffed or quilted coverlet for a bed; a comforter.
  • 1000 English basic words