Learn English – A word for: someone who is easy to talk to

adjectivesepithet-requestsword-choice

I want to convey the idea that such and such person is very easy to talk to.

I know that:

  1. 'talk to-able' is not a word, obviously.

  2. I can always say, "He is very easy to talk to." But I am looking for a single word, not a phrase.

  3. The word 'talkable' changes the meaning. Eg, if I say, "He is very talkable," the meaning tends to become (a) either, he is a topic/subject worthy of talking, (b) or, he can be talked over or shut up easily!

  4. I can get away with words like approachable, accessible, reachable etc but I feel there has got to be a better word.

Is there any?

Thanks much.

EDIT

Sometimes, there are people at work who, officially, can be 'approached' for questions. But their tone and body language, consciously or unconsciously, is such that they make you feel very uncomfortable approaching them next time around especially if there are choices available. So while they are there, 'accessible' etc for you officially, yet they are not all that 'easy to talk to'! Note that, I'm not necessarily looking for 'chatty' people either, but rather those who I can ask even stupid questions fearlessly because… again, they are 'very easy to talk to', with minimal ego, arrogance, and air about them.

EDIT 2

I am also happy with Dave Mulligan's "approachable" and ermanen's very clever "easy-to-talk-to".

Best Answer

Affable: (from TFD)

  • Easy and pleasant to speak to; approachable.

From Etymonline we gain insight into the reason "Affable" might work to describe "people who are easy to talk to":

  • late 15c.,
  • from Old French afable (14c.)
  • from Latin affabilis "approachable, courteous, kind,friendly,"
  • literally "who can be (easily) spoken to,"
  • from affari "to speak to,"
  • from ad- "to" + fari "to speak"

NB: Reformatted for clarity. Emphasis by ScotM.

It seems affable people have been easy to talk to for a long time.

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