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Meaning of personal in English:

personal

Pronunciation /ˈpəːs(ə)n(ə)l/

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adjective

1attributive Belonging to or affecting a particular person rather than anyone else.
‘her personal fortune was recently estimated at £37 million’
- ‘But I decided not to be embarrassed by my illness and to record my experiences on a personal website, for anyone to read.’
- ‘He is working the streets as hard as anyone, buoyed by a huge personal fortune.’
- ‘For 200 years prior to this, the garden relied on personal book collections belonging to the various keepers of the garden.’
- ‘I like to write about my life, but I think that belongs in my personal journal.’
- ‘Inside laid a treasure trove of personal effects belonging to Earl Sandstrum.’
- ‘Unless one's size is affecting one's personal health then one should be comfortable being who they are.’
- ‘People whose personal health may be affected have often been held by the courts to have no standing to make a case.’
- ‘The room was empty and had no personal items belonging to the presumed occupants.’
- ‘This is a fine anthology that would be a welcome addition to anyone's personal library.’
- ‘You might even be forced to liquidate personal assets to pay off creditors.’
- ‘However, if the firm went bust, the directors would be forced to liquidate their personal assets to pay creditors.’
- ‘One appears to be on the personal website of a creative writing student at Macquarie University.’
- ‘In it were all of her personal letters, her journal, and a few treasured childhood trinkets.’
- ‘You'll use my body as your personal jungle gym, always crawling back over me if you go anywhere in the room.’
- ‘I believe it is more important to be a good mentor than it is to preserve my personal body of work.’
- ‘He always placed a sanitary towel under their left armpit and also removed personal items from their bodies.’
- ‘He had his wallet and personal possessions on his body, so there was no reason to suspect any robbery.’
distinctive, characteristic, unique, individual, one's own, particular, private, peculiar, exclusive, idiosyncratic, individualized, personalized
direct, empirical, first-hand, immediate, experiential
View synonyms
1. 1.1Done or made by a particular person; involving the actual presence or action of a particular individual.
  ‘the President and his wife made personal appearances for the re-election of the state governor’
  ‘Each individual will receive a personal letter of apology, acknowledging the harm caused by the process.’
  ‘It's not my personal presence here that will bring the disease under control, but bearing down on the disease to eliminate it.’
  ‘Both our days are outrageously improved by actual personal contact.’
  ‘The position requires a high degree of personal presence, creativity and imagination.’
  ‘The second benefit is that a blog can give your practice a voice and a personal presence.’
  ‘It does not necessarily, I think, involve the personal presence of the person claiming to occupy.’
  ‘It is God's personal presence that restores Job's confidence in divine order.’
  ‘Ingram was presenting his personal opinion which he submitted in a letter to The Peak.’
  ‘The book includes actual postcards carrying personal messages as well as popular songs and poetry of the time.’
  ‘It took a personal letter from President Lyndon Johnson in late December to win their release.’
  ‘In a personal letter to voters, the Tory leader has asked them to send application forms to a national party centre in Dartford, Kent.’
  ‘Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke of his distress and the Prince of Wales wrote personal letters of condolence to both families.’
  ‘And each of them sent me a personal letter with drawings and wishes to a fast recovery.’
  ‘So, we went back to the office and wrote my personal letter of the events, and took it to the police station after their break.’
  ‘He stashed away hundreds of Diana-related items, from signed CDs to personal letters to photographs.’
  ‘You could also simply make a donation or bring some Christmas cheer by sending a child a personal letter from Father Christmas.’
  ‘Christopher said the letter expressed his personal opinion and not that of the party.’
  ‘I write this in the form of a personal letter from me to you, if for no other reason than to blunder and blur genres further.’
  ‘Some of the more threatening and personal letters were passed on to police.’
  ‘All she did was read out a personal letter written by Dan in which he denied involvement.’
  in person, in the flesh, actual, live, physical
  individual, particular, special, in person
  View synonyms
2Of or concerning one's private life, relationships, and emotions rather than one's career or public life.
‘the book describes his sporting career and gives little information about his personal life’
- ‘He is much less certain and dogmatic talking about emotions and personal relationships.’
- ‘The relationship between a political figure's personal life and his public career is a tricky one.’
- ‘Their argument is that nothing is too personal or private for public discourse.’
- ‘A personal relationship with Jesus involves mind, emotions, spirit and body.’
- ‘On one hand, surveys show that privacy and security of personal information are key public concerns.’
- ‘His point of view was to present a character study in a series of private and personal relationships.’
- ‘Do convictions rather than practical and personal concerns dictate your decisions?’
- ‘He specialises in personal forecasts, career and relationship issues.’
- ‘The relationship you build can be a bit more personal throughout your whole career.’
- ‘This is a period of personal identity, intimate relationships and emancipation.’
- ‘Getting the facts straight rather than using personal emotions is a good first step.’
- ‘Then, when it comes time to have a personal relationship with your Creator, you would rather not.’
- ‘Another is that the ban reduces our personal freedom and sanitises public spaces, treating us rather like children.’
- ‘He's interested in the dynamics of very intimate personal relationships.’
- ‘Emotions express the intimate personal measuring of what is happening in our social lives.’
- ‘It may well be that he was concerned about his personal exposure to liability in relation to the real estate conveyance.’
- ‘The spectrum has ranged from aggressive public demonstrations to intimate personal explorations.’
- ‘Love and romance in personal relationships lead to special bonding and intimacy today.’
- ‘We have developed a very close, personal relationship, a relationship of trust.’
- ‘She took me on a tour of the Institute and spoke about the positive impact working there has had on her both from a career and personal point of view.’
private, confidential, one's own business, intimate, secret
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1. 2.1Referring to an individual's character, appearance, or private life in an inappropriate or offensive way.
  ‘he had the cheek to make personal remarks’
  ‘It's very rude to relay personal remarks, but I've made a career out of it - so why stop now?’
  ‘I suggest that it is time you made a ruling on that, and said that those sorts of personal insinuations are inappropriate.’
  ‘He decided to get very personal and to refer to my own marriage.’
  ‘The only problem is if we go from the deeply offensive and personal to the deeply offensive and general.’
  ‘Don't you take any notice, girl, I say, when people make uncalled-for personal remarks.’
  ‘I believe that we will be judged on this record and not by unkind and unjustified personal remarks in the press.’
  ‘Some lowly wonk writes a few personal remarks to go in at the top and you're laughing.’
  ‘He heard her say each name, accompanied by a more personal remark for each.’
  ‘The personal remarks were coming think and as fast as those concerning my stature and physic.’
  ‘I just want to make a remark of a more personal nature about my work.’
  ‘It is certainly typical of the threats and personal attacks which now characterise the three-way bid battle.’
  ‘In her taste, her cultural and political awareness, even her personal appearance, she seems like a product of the Rive Gauche.’
  derogatory, disparaging, belittling, insulting, critical, rude, slighting, disrespectful, offensive, pejorative
  View synonyms
3Relating to a person's body.
‘personal hygiene’
- ‘On some Tory blog's comment section this is a cue for speculating about personal hygiene of and body hair on greenies.’
- ‘As a youngster he has overcome racism and through his life there have been enough personal body blows to ensure that he appreciates the good in his world.’
- ‘I put it down to the fact that as he's Italian the encroaching of personal body space was just something that came with the territory.’
- ‘In an honor culture, a personal attack on the body could be countered only by an attack in kind.’
- ‘I am not talking about the A-Z of sex, but something to do with personal hygiene, or maybe just to fund some other college course.’
- ‘People pay more attention to personal hygiene and quit bad habits.’
- ‘I assure you, my personal hygiene is of the highest standard.’
- ‘A certain lack of personal hygiene pervades the carriage, and then yes, you guessed it, three of 'em decide my table is fair game.’
- ‘I'm assuming that smelling like sea creatures is a good thing and not a comment on my personal hygiene.’
- ‘Safe and hygienic food handling procedures and facets pertaining to personal hygiene were also discussed.’
- ‘I never managed to ask or find out why: perhaps it was nerves, or maybe personal hygiene wasn't quite so extreme in those days.’
- ‘I have neglected personal hygiene or household chores until I have finished a novel.’
- ‘He was at his friend's house getting high when he noticed the grubby living conditions and lack of personal hygiene.’
- ‘It is now up to you to ask your doctors whether they are practicing even the most basic acts of personal hygiene.’
- ‘If you are seriously concerned about these children, then do the right thing and improve their diet and personal hygiene habits.’
- ‘The care will cover all personal hygiene, dressing, assistance with eating and preparing food and help with mobility.’
- ‘These cults are a group of jobless people who are more interested in their facial hair than their personal hygiene.’
- ‘The educated elite is conscious about their personal hygiene and health.’
- ‘I had meals in there and my personal hygiene was extremely poor.’
- ‘He also digs sharing information about his personal body art that you'd probably rather not know.’
4Grammar
Of or denoting one of the three persons.
See person (sense 2)
‘Yes, that's why I used the personal pronoun - stating a personal opinion.’
- ‘If a personal noun was necessary to make sense of running conversation, I added the name.’
5Theology
Existing as a self-aware entity, not as an abstraction or an impersonal force.
‘he rejected the notion of a personal God’
- ‘We must, then, somehow think of God as both personal and impersonal, and in one sense, it would seem, this presents no difficulty.’
- ‘I was also able to make contact with spiritual entities personal to me, even explore some past life stuff a bit.’
- ‘Goethe's Faust reminds us forever that the devil is personal, not impersonal.’
- ‘It also kept the idea of evil as a devilish personal force prowling around ready to get into you.’
- ‘We are governed by a personal living God and he has decreed the means by which we accomplish his purposes.’
- ‘A true Christian is a person who has come into living fellowship and communion with the Lord Jesus as a personal Saviour.’

noun

North American usually personals

An advertisement or message in the personal column of a newspaper.
‘They found each other through a personals advertisement Ehud placed in an Indian newspaper.’
- ‘You know the drill: we look for the creepiest, sleaziest ads in the Leader newspaper personals and you kiddies get to vote for the worst one.’
- ‘Jacob, a 30-something guy advertised in a personals magazine and thought he had found his partner.’
- ‘They might not have been expecting a review so much as the more traditional coded message in the personals section of the Seattle Times.’
- ‘Or if you were going to advertise in a newspaper, do it in the personals section.’
- ‘The following is a typical advert from the personals column of the London Review of Books.’
- ‘Because of an incorrect personals advertisement, a Shanghai man identified as Ying recently had a difficult time with his wife.’
- ‘My idea is to create an online community for Dublin where locals can connect with one another via classifieds, forums, personals etc.’
- ‘Newspapers, used to fielding personals, are finding their business diminished by online dating services.’
- ‘If the client acquired them independently through the personals, they can post on the various online message boards about their experience.’
- ‘Further legitimation for this reading could be seen in Jim's response to Roberta's advertisement to Susan in the personals.’
- ‘Another way to find good dating sites, is by asking friends and co-workers who may have tried, or are using online dating or personals services.’
- ‘The two businesses still attract more total visitors, thanks to their broad offerings of games, music, personals, and much more.’
- ‘So the only option I have seems to be online personals.’
- ‘I was thinking about taking out an ad in the personals.’
- ‘It's not because he met me, he assures me, but because of the ‘stigma’ attached to Internet personals.’
- ‘I have tried the dating personals on the web and I have met a few people.’
- ‘I am now back in the market, and I've posted a new personals ad.’
- ‘Like personals listings, the exchanges are primarily information services, linking suppliers with buyers.’
- ‘OK, so we don't truly shop for handheld devices through the personals.’