Avuncular

//əˈvʌŋkjʊlɚ// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    In the manner of an uncle, pertaining to an uncle.

    "Both uncle Frank and uncle Stephen Austen had made it a point of principle to be rigorously unsentimental in the discharge of their avuncular obligations."

  2. 2
    Kind, genial, benevolent, or tolerant. broadly

    "A man with such a nice, avuncular personality would not blow up the world."

Adjective
  1. 1
    being or relating to an uncle wordnet
  2. 2
    resembling an uncle in kindness or indulgence wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
affiliatedagnateakinalliedbenevolentcognate

Example

More examples

"His avuncular mien endears him to small children."

Etymology

From Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.