Basic Details
Word: Hospitable
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Friendly and generous to guests and visitors; also, of a place, pleasant and suitable to live in.
Synonyms: welcoming, friendly, generous
Antonyms: unwelcoming, inhospitable, unfriendly
How to Spell Hospitable
Syllables: hos - pi - ta - ble
Tricky part: The ending is able, not ible, and the t is single. Students often write hospitible.
Watch out for: hospitible, hospitabel, hospittable
Memory tip: Start with hospital, swap the final l for ble: hospita + ble. Both words come from looking after guests.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Our hosts in Kutch were so hospitable that they packed lunch for our trip to the Rann.
Example 2: Antarctica is not a hospitable place for most plants.
Example 3: Grandma is the most hospitable person I know; no visitor leaves without food.
Fun Fact
Hospitable, hospital, hotel and hostel all come from the Latin hospes, which meant both a host and a guest.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Choose the correct letters to fill in the blanks:
hosp_t_ble
a) a, i
b) i, a
c) e, a
d) i, i
Show answer
b) i, a. Hospitable shares its first part with hospital, and the ending is able.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word hospitable as used in the sentence:
The villagers in Spiti were so hospitable that they invited us into their homes for butter tea.
a) shy
b) welcoming
c) curious
d) unfriendly
Show answer
b) welcoming. People who invite strangers in for tea are welcoming; unfriendly is the opposite.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The host family was so tlbeposhia that we felt at home on the very first evening.
a) hospitality
b) habitable
c) hospitable
d) inhospitable
Show answer
c) hospitable. The jumble has an e and no y, so it spells hospitable rather than hospitality.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A hospitable person would most likely ____.
a) hide when the bell rings
b) shut the door on guests
c) offer a visitor tea and a seat
d) complain about visitors
Show answer
c) offer a visitor tea and a seat
2. Which place is the least hospitable for people to live in?
a) a quiet hill village
b) a hot, waterless desert
c) a busy seaside town
d) a green river valley
Show answer
b) a hot, waterless desert
