different between congenial vs pleasing

English

Etymology

con- +? genial

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /k?n?d??i?ni?l/

Adjective

congenial (comparative more congenial, superlative most congenial)

1. Having the same or very similar nature, personality, tastes, habits or interests.
   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, XIX:

     No sluggish tide congenial to the glooms; / This, as it frothed by, might have been a bath / For the fiend's glowing hoof - to see the wrath / Of its black eddy bespate with flakes and spumes.

2. Friendly or sociable.

   The congenial bartender makes the Hog’s Head an inviting place to hang out during the weekends.

3. Suitable to one’s needs.
   • 1961, J. A. Philip, Mimesis in the Sophistês of Plato, in Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92, page 453-468:

     What was it that made this notion of mimesis, in spite of its inherent difficulties that only the dialectical method enables him to avoid, seem so useful and congenial to Plato?

Antonyms

• uncongenial

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• conga line

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?pli?z??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?pliz??/
• Rhymes: -i?z??

Etymology 1

From Middle English plesynge, pleizinge, plesende (present participle), equivalent to please +? -ing.

Adjective

pleasing (comparative more pleasing, superlative most pleasing)

1. Agreeable; giving pleasure, cheer, enjoyment or gratification.

Synonyms

• enjoyable
• gratifying
• satisfying

Derived terms

• pleasing fungus beetle

Related terms

Translations

Verb

pleasing

1. present participle of please.

Etymology 2

From Middle English plesing, plesinge (“satisfaction; pleasing”), equivalent to please +? -ing.

Noun

pleasing (countable and uncountable, plural pleasings)

1. pleasure or satisfaction, as in the phrase "to my pleasing."
   • a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, The Passion of our Blessed Saviour (sermon)

     What more palpable confutation can there be of human vanity and arrogance, of all lofty imaginations, all presumptuous confidences, all turgid humours, all fond self-pleasings and self-admirings, than is that tragical cross […]

Anagrams

• apelings, elapsing, leapings, pealings