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Friendly vs Tactful - What's the difference?

friendly | tactful | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between friendly and tactful

is that friendly is generally warm, approachable and easy to relate with in character while tactful is possessing tact; able to deal with people in a sensitive manner.

As an adverb friendly

is in a friendly manner, like a friend.

As a noun friendly

is a game which is of no consequence in terms of ranking, betting etc.

friendly

English

Adjective

  • Generally warm, approachable and easy to relate with in character.
    • Your cat seems very friendly .
  • *
    • They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups. The boy became volubly friendly and bubbling over with unexpected humour and high spirits.
  • Inviting, characteristic of friendliness.
    • He gave a friendly smile.
  • Having an easy relationship with something, as in user-friendly etc.
  • Without any hostility.
    • a friendly competition
    a friendly power or state
  • * (1800-1859)
    • in friendly relations with his moderate opponents
  • Promoting the good of any person; favourable; propitious.
    • a friendly breeze or gale
  • * (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
    • On the first friendly bank he throws him down.
  • (military) Of or pertaining to friendlies (friendly noun sense 2, below). Also applied to other bipolar confrontations, such as team sports
    • The soldier was killed by friendly fire.
  • *
  • *
  • (number theory) Being or relating to two or more natural numbers with a common abundancy.
    • friendly''' numbers;  '''friendly''' pairs;  '''friendly n-tuples

    Antonyms

    * unfriendly * hostile

    Derived terms

    * family friendly * friendliness * friendly fire * Friendly Islands * radio-friendly * user-friendly

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a friendly manner, like a friend.
  • * 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica :
    • And we cannot doubt, our Brothers in Physick [...] will friendly accept, if not countenance our endeavours.

    Synonyms

    * amicably, friendlily

    Noun

    (friendlies)
  • (sports) A game which is of no consequence in terms of ranking, betting etc.
    • ''Even as friendlies , derbies often arouse strong emotions
  • A person or entity on the same side of a conflict.
  • * 2008 , Dennis Wengert, A Very Healthy Insanity (page 44)
    • You see, the mission of almost every teenage girl on the loose is to first identify the targets, just like a war. These include the primary objective (the boy), the enemy (other girls), the friendlies (sympathetic girl friends and the boy's family), and unfriendlies (other boys).

    tactful

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Possessing tact; able to deal with people in a sensitive manner.

    • Antonyms

    * tactless