personality
/pəːsəˈnalɪti
/noun (plural personalities)
1The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character: she had a sunny personality that was very engaging [mass noun]: she has triumphed by sheer force of personality...
- Drawings and dialogue combine to create distinctive personalities for these birds.
- Instead it is a study of the personality traits of successful people.
- The character design and animations go a long way to present the personalities of different characters.
Synonyms
character, nature, disposition, temperament, make-up, persona, psyche, identity
1.1 [mass noun] Lively, engaging qualities: she’s always had loads of personality...
- On top of all that, Charles says they have bucket loads of personality.
- He had an extremely dark sense of humour and so much personality.
- It has that sense of unassuming warm-heartedness and personality.
Synonyms
charisma, magnetism, strength of personality, force of personality, character, powers of attraction, charm, presence, individuality, attractiveness
2A celebrity or famous person: an official opening by a famous personality...
- Pupils at the school have named sections of the centre after famous Farnworth personalities.
- They cannot rise to become famous media personalities by ‘speaking what they often hear’.
- On Sunday are two resort walks looking back at places associated with the early life of two of Morecambe's most famous personalities.
Synonyms
celebrity, VIP, star, superstar, celebutante, name, famous name, household name, big name, somebody, leading light, notable, personage, luminary, notability, worthy
informal celeb, televisionary
3 [mass noun] archaic The quality or fact of being a person as distinct from a thing or animal.
4 (personalities) archaic Disparaging remarks about an individual.
Origin
Late Middle English (in sense 3): from Old French personalite, from medieval Latin personalitas, from Latin personalis 'of a person' (see personal). sense 1 dates from the late 18th century.