[Vocabulary] Character / personality

[englishhobby]

Are these two words complete synonyms? Are they interchangeable :?:

 

[bhaisahab]

Are these two words complete synonims? Are they interchangeable :?:

No and no.

 

[englishhobby]

Longman Dictionary explains personality as someone's character: personality - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online

Can't I use "character" instead of "personality" in the following sentences:
1) He was an ambitious man with a strong personality.
2) Despite their different personalities, they became the best of friends.
3) He's honest but he lacks personality.
4) He has a cheerful personality.
?

 

[Rover_KE]

It would be OK in the first two but it doesn't sound good to me in the next two.

Rover

 

[5jj]

Longman Dictionary explains personality as someone's character: personality - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online

If you are going to ask about this, why not do it in your original post? If members ask a question, receive a response, and then you produce a quote that seems to contradict the response, we can sometimes get the impression that we are being set up. Do your research before you ask the question.

 

[englishhobby]

I am really sorry if I hurt somebody's feelings. If I did, it wasn't done intentionally.
It can be explained by some peculiarities of my personality (or character?) - I am very, very inquisitive, that may produce the wrong impression.) I do sometimes research after starting a thread, when I am a little puzzled or surprised by the answer. In this situation I was pretty sure that character and personality mean almost the same and just wanted confirmation.

Sorry again. The problem is that I not only want to understand the difference between the two words, but also explain it to my students. And I still don't know how to do it, because in dictionaries they are explained almost as synonyms, so I can't find words to clear it up for others.

 

[Rover_KE]

Another dictionary (Macmillan) gives one definition of character as 'The qualities that make up a person's personality'.

Both words have other, different meanings, so the answer to your original questions: 'Are they complete synonyms?' 'Are they interchangeable?' are 'no and no' – as bhai said.

You can tell your students that the closest they come to being synonymous is in your example 2 in post 3:

'Despite their different personalities/characters, they became the best of friends.'

In all other contexts, forget it.

Rover

 

[englishhobby]

Thank you.
I've just found one article about the difference between character and personality (http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-character-and-vs-personality/)

Now that I've I read it, it seems to me that personality is more like an IMAGE of a person. Do you agree?

 

[Rover_KE]

Only in the sense of definition 5 below.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

image n

• a representation or likeness of a person or thing, esp in sculpture
• an optically formed reproduction of an object, such as one formed by a lens or mirror
• a person or thing that resembles another closely; double or copy
• a mental representation or picture; idea produced by the imagination
• the personality presented to the public by a person, organization, etc:a criminal charge is not good for a politician's image.

Rover

 

[englishhobby]

I am sorry to boost the thread, but today it seemed to me that I got the difference between "character" and "personality" judging by my own experience. I was feeling under the weather because of some minor problems at work, it's a trait of my character - to worry about small things (that's my inner self). But when I came to work I pretended to be OK, (and I really felt better when I talked to some of my colleagues and even laughed with them), though I still kept thinking about those minor troubles. As a result (I am almost cetain about it) my personality is considered by others to be cheerful, easygoing and relaxed (everyone sees it), but my character is different from my personality - worried, not relaxed at all. Does this explanation "explain" the difference between character and personality?

 

[LeTyan]

Longman Dictionary explains personality as someone's character: personality - Definition from Longman English Dictionary Online

Can't I use "character" instead of "personality" in the following sentences:
1) He was an ambitious man with a strong personality.
2) Despite their different personalities, they became the best of friends.
3) He's honest but he lacks personality.
4) He has a cheerful personality.
?

In the 3rd example, I'd go with "individuality" rather than "personality" because that avoids all the confusion~~

----NOT A TEACHER----