What's the difference between amiable and amicable?

Amiable


Definition:

  • (a.) Lovable; lovely; pleasing.
  • (a.) Friendly; kindly; sweet; gracious; as, an amiable temper or mood; amiable ideas.
  • (a.) Possessing sweetness of disposition; having sweetness of temper, kind-heartedness, etc., which causes one to be liked; as, an amiable woman.
  • (a.) Done out of love.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The Normandie Design is plum in the middle of the amiable chaos of South American city life, in Santa Efigênia, where the streets are thronged with tiny electronics stores – great if you fancy a fake Chinese iPhone.
  • (2) Graf said that the idea of partnerships - such as technology sharing and bolstering regional and local news by other broadcasters - raised the question of when "amiable cooperation becomes anti-competitive cartel".
  • (3) An amiable and professional friendship was quickly established between myself and the nursing staff that was based on mutual respect.
  • (4) Let's amble amiably together, towards the announcement.
  • (5) But on the whole "Eck" is amiable, making time for reporters, giving spot interview after spot interview, chatting to anyone who catches his attention, whether from a major UK paper or a Netherlands radio station he has never heard of, all very different from the increasingly tightly controlled appearances of UK leaders.
  • (6) Further on, an Emirati sheikh chatted amiably with an Iraqi MP wanted on charges of terrorism.
  • (7) And it continues today, the discourse and the amiable discord, by turns legalistic, linguistic, poetic, artistic, metaphysical, practical, transcendental, earthy, comedic.
  • (8) Amiable, wise and pink-cheeked, with the same taste for the finer things we have witnessed in certain popes – let us remember Benedict’s red leather loafers – it’s all but impossible, once you’ve read his new novel, not to imagine how fabulous he would look in a white zucchetto , with a cape to match, and a socking great ring on his finger for journalists to kiss as they try desperately not to reveal the sin of envy in his presence (before he was a million-selling novelist, Harris was a hack just like them – and me).
  • (9) Ochola, an amiable man, insists that he has written to the ministry of energy to plead Katine's case, but has had no joy.
  • (10) Small children adored this highly coloured quartet of amiable toddler-people.
  • (11) My housemate was an amiable soul named Herbert Pocket.
  • (12) His exclamatory sock-cymbal sound, often played at the turning point in a theme, or at the close, appeared to be struck with a dismissive blow like a boxer's right cross, and would be all the more arresting for its contrast with Jones's general demeanour of happiness in his work, smiling fit to bust, unleashing a stream of effusive - and highly rhythmic - chortles and grunts, sometimes eyeballing his partners with baleful amiability from the drum stool while intensifying the pressure, as if baiting them into bigger risks.
  • (13) His maternal grandfather was the amiably colourful mayor of Boston, John Francis Fitzgerald, the child of immigrants and the first Irish Catholic to achieve such power in the then-English – or "Boston Brahmin" – dominated-political landscape of New England.
  • (14) (Las Vegas's current mayor, the amiably savvy Oscar Goodman, made his reputation as a lawyer defending mobsters.)
  • (15) Only in much later life did his fondness for the place grow as he became an occasional and amiable visitor to it.
  • (16) In one penalty area, Richard Dunne and Thierry Henry sit chatting in what seems genuinely like a very amiable fashion.
  • (17) In an alternate reading, the snarl-up was not designed to punish the amiable Sokolich but New Jersey senate leader Loretta Weinberg, whose district is in Fort Lee, because she blocked Christie's supreme court nominees.
  • (18) The critical course of the terminal phases of the cancer-patient needs a cautious and amiable attendment.
  • (19) GCHQ, he says, is seen as "a club of amiable gentlemen in shabby tweed jackets," probably still fighting the Nazis.
  • (20) "It was a very … interesting time," he says amiably, with the benefit of 14 years' reflection.

Amicable


Definition:

  • (a.) Friendly; proceeding from, or exhibiting, friendliness; after the manner of friends; peaceable; as, an amicable disposition, or arrangement.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) We regret this situation has resulted in litigation, however it is our sincere hope that the matter can be resolved amicably.
  • (2) On his sitting-room wall are some lines from the Bible, a photograph of his two teenage daughters (he is separated from their mother, with whom they live, and you gather that the split, which took place after what he calls his 'accident', was not entirely amicable), and the world championship belt that Nigel Benn gave him.
  • (3) Luc Coene, the central bank governor of Belgium, said an "amicable divorce" was possible, while Ireland's central bank governor, Patrick Honohan, said it would be "not necessarily fatal but it is not attractive".
  • (4) The couple have "an amicable relationship for the sake of the children".
  • (5) Close friends with Ed Balls and Lord Mandelson, the Murdochs and BBC business editor Robert Peston, Rudd was seen as the go-between who brought together New Labour and the City; it was a pairing that was to end not entirely amicably.
  • (6) The judges whittled down the 152 entries to six in an amicable fashion, Macfarlane said.
  • (7) It said the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, and foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, had sought a six-month adjournment in September in an attempt to allow the two countries “to seek an amicable settlement”.
  • (8) Amicably organized mice initially did not attack strangers, but over a period of 25 days the number of attacks on unfamiliar males gradually increased.
  • (9) In private, senior Greek officials say their preference would be to find an amicable solution with western lenders.
  • (10) In its annual report the PCC said that it "amicably settled" 544 complaints in 2010 – down from 609 successfully resolved complaints in 2009.
  • (11) Three amylase phenotypes, AmIB, AmIC, and AmIBC, were detected by electrophoresis of blood serum from 329 Holstein cattle.
  • (12) Amal Clooney, the human rights lawyer, has said it is only prudent that Greece seeks legal advice in its attempt to reclaim the Parthenon marbles from the British Museum , but hopes an amicable solution can be found to the decades-long dispute.
  • (13) But in a sign of the amicable tone of the talks, the two sides have in the meantime signed a co-operation agreement and begun the process of seeking approval from competition authorities in Brussels – although UK competition officials could request jurisdiction.
  • (14) In this situation, divorce from the EU would probably be relatively amicable and require a negotiated free trade agreement.
  • (15) It was agreed that the chancellor would remain in first class and an amount of £189.50 was paid by the aide to cover the upgrade for Mr Osborne and his PA. "The situation was dealt with amicably between the train manager and George Osborne's aide.
  • (16) This club has helped me fulfil my dreams over and over again.” Although Gerrard insists his decision to part company with Liverpool has been “very amicable”, the admission that he would have signed an extension had one been on the table in the summer raises fresh questions over Fenway Sports Group’s handling of the situation.
  • (17) I hope that an amicable solution to this issue can be found, given the longstanding friendship between Greece and the UK,” she said, adding that she and her colleagues, Geoffrey Robertson and Norman Palmer, QCs and specialists in cultural restitution, had initially been approached by the Greek authorities three years ago.
  • (18) Despite interest from Real Madrid , Suárez's preferred destination should he leave Anfield, there was no suggestion from Guardiola that his client has a move in the pipeline during the planned and amicable meeting.
  • (19) The situation was dealt with amicably between the train manager and George Osborne's aide.
  • (20) Yet under Macmillan, employment was neglible and prices stable: government worked amicably with organised labour, and the living standards of trade unionists increased far more rapidly than they were to do in the 1970s and 1980s.