avuncular

English

WOTD – 15 May 2008

Etymology

From Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈvʌŋkjʊlə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈvʌŋkjʊlɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

avuncular (comparative more avuncular, superlative most avuncular)

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

   Synonyms: unclely, uncley, unclish, (archaic) uncular

   Coordinate terms: maternal, materteral, paternal

   • 1997, David Nokes, Jane Austen: A Life:

     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.

   • 2025 June 19, Scott Heller, quoting Stephen Fry, “Stephen Fry Knows He’s Become a Middle-Aged Cliché”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     In 2021, the Times described you as an “avuncular public intellectual.” How do you feel about that label?
     [Stephen Fry:] Oh my lordy lord. Avuncular gives me great pleasure.

2. (by extension) Kind, genial, benevolent, or tolerant.

   Synonyms: kind, benevolent

   • 1987 January, William Schneider, “The New Shape of American Politics”, in The Atlantic:

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

   • 1997, David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:

     I imagine the Dreamward’s Hotel Manager to be an avuncular Norwegian with a rag sweater and a soothing odor of Borkum Rif about him, a guy w/o sunglasses or hauteur who throws open the pressurized doors to the Dreamward’s Bridge and galley and Vacuum Sewage System and personally takes me through, offering pithy and quotable answers to questions before I’ve even asked them.

   • 2003 September 20, Vicki Croke, “New leader of the MSPCA moves to tame budget woes”, in Boston Globe:

     Thornton's reputation was that of a soft-hearted and avuncular veterinarian known for getting teary-eyed while listening to even slightly sentimental stories.

Derived terms

• avuncularism
• avuncularity
• avuncularly
• unavuncular
• uncular

Related terms

• avunculate

Translations

in the manner of an uncle

Bulgarian: чичов (čičov), вуйчов (vujčov) Catalan: avuncular Czech: strýčkovský, strýcovský Danish: onkelaktig, faderlig Dutch: vaderlijk (nl) Esperanto: onkla, onklina Estonian: onulik, onu- French: avunculaire (fr) German: onkelhaft (de) (literal, but may have a negative tone); großväterlich; väterlich (de) Norwegian: Bokmål: onkelaktig, faderlig Polish: dobroduszny (pl) m, ojcowski (pl) m Russian: дя́дин (ru) (djádin) Serbo-Croatian: avunkularni m, ujački (sh) m Swedish: farbroderlig (sv) Tibetan: ཞང་པོའི (zhang po'i), ཨ་ཞང་གི (a zhang gi), ཞང་ཉེའི (zhang nye'i) Turkish: amcavari, emmice, amcacıl

kind, genial, benevolent or tolerant

Bulgarian: благ (bg) (blag), добродушен (bg) (dobrodušen) Danish: venlig, godhjertet Dutch: vriendelijk (nl), welwillend (nl), verdraagzaam (nl) French: gentil (fr) German: wohlwollend (de) Irish: muinteartha Norwegian: Bokmål: vennlig (no), fordragelig Russian: доброду́шный (ru) (dobrodúšnyj) Serbo-Croatian: dobrodušan (sh) m Turkish: babacan (tr)

See also

• Dutch uncle