Word for being welcoming

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50+ different ways to say welcome to your guests

By: Susan Dugdale | Last modified: 04-08-2021

The challenge of a welcome speech is to find alternate ways to express yourself sincerely without resorting to a string of undifferentiated «same-old, same-old» words and phrases that have become meaningless through overuse to greet your guests with.

And that there’s an additional question. Is the event formal or informal? Your answer will guide the language choices you make.

What’s on this page?

• help to decide whether you need formal or informal language
• examples of informal and formal welcome speech openings
• 50+ different ways to say welcome 
• 28 example sentences
   

Do you need to use formal or informal language?

Is the welcome speech you’re preparing formal or informal?  

There are major differences. The words you use in an informal speech will be entirely out of place in a formal one. You need to know what is right for the occasion if you want your speech to be a success.

The video below explains the difference and provides six example speech openings to illustrate: three formal and three informal.

How to avoid repetition making your speech boring!  

Repetition of a familiar word is very easy to do and totally understandable.

Sometimes we can’t find the words we want and we get stuck in a vocabulary rut, using the same phrase or word over and over, and over again, trying to make it cover multiple and/or different situations.

And yet we know, words are just like clothes. One size does does not fit all.

What’s the solution?

Here’s three suggestions to individualize or tailor your words to fit your event a little better. And they’ll be more interesting for the audience to listen to!

With care you’ll find most will adapt either formal or informal use.

1. Add an adjective to the word welcome

Try working in an adjective to describe the quality of your welcome more fully.

I’ve provided an example sentence or two alongside each adjective to show how it could be used in context.

I know some examples are much more successful, (smooth to say and read), than others.

Some, quite frankly, clunk a little. (I say this with a wry smile ☺!) 

If you decide to use the feature word in those that do, perhaps you’ll find a way to use it more eloquently!  

What sort of welcome are you offering?

It could be a(n):

• warm welcome
  «Luckily the weather is on our side today! The sun and I are pleased to offer you a warm welcome.»
• hearty welcome
   «Here’s a hearty welcome, big and warm enough to encompass you all! To say we are thrilled to see you is an understatement.»
• cheerful welcome
  «It’s my pleasure to extend a cheerful welcome to you all! Your presence makes us very happy.»
• cordial welcome
  «Fellow members, please join me in giving our guests the most cordial of welcomes.»
• sociable welcome
  «Let’s hear it for a sociable welcome! On the count of three, turn to your neighbor and say ‘hello’. There are no strangers here, only friends we are yet to meet.»
• genial welcome
  «It’s my pleasant duty to bid you all a genial welcome.»
• convivial welcome
  «On behalf of my colleagues, I wish you all a convivial welcome. We are going to have a merry and enjoyable time together.»
• agreeable welcome
  «The flags are flying. The balloons are ready for release. It’s a great day, one we’ve been planning and waiting for. I’m sure you’ll concur, this is an agreeable welcome.»
• pleasing welcome
  «It’s gratifying to look around and see so many familiar faces. That’s a pleasing welcome to what I know is a going to be a great 
  conference … «

Or maybe it’s a(n):

• glad welcome
  «It’s a glad welcome we bring to you this morning, filled with the desires, hopes and dreams we all share.»
• hospitable welcome
  «We’re delighted to offer the most hospitable welcome we can.»
• amiable welcome
  «Dear guests, look around you! An amiable welcome full of friendship is yours.»
• gracious welcome
  «Our desire is to extend a gracious and inclusive welcome to all of you. For now let’s put aside our differences and instead celebrate what brings us together!»

What about a(n):

• genial welcome
  «It’s my pleasant duty to bid you all a genial welcome.»
• convivial welcome
  «On behalf of my colleagues, I wish you all a convivial welcome. We are going to have a merry and enjoyable time together.»
• agreeable welcome
  «The flags are flying. The balloons are ready for release. It’s a great day, one we’ve been planning and waiting for. I’m sure you’ll concur, this is an agreeable welcome.»
• pleasing welcome
  «It’s gratifying to look around and see so many familiar faces. That’s a pleasing welcome to what I know is a going to be a great 
  conference … «

Then there’s a:

• pleasant welcome
  «You know what’s great about these events? You are always assured of a pleasant welcome. This is feel-good central and we aim …»
• companionable welcome
  «Looking around I can see many familiar faces — peers, past and present colleagues. What a companionable welcome! It’s great to see you all here …»
• grateful welcome
  «Many of you have made a huge effort to join us today. On behalf of us all, we are deeply appreciative and offer you our most grateful welcome.»
• friendly welcome
  «Today is the day we begin to learn to look through the eyes of others; to find out and experience what the world is like for them. It is also the day we grow bigger than our differences and offer to everyone regardless of historical rights and wrongs, a friendly welcome, an outstretched hand.»

Perhaps a(n):

• appreciative welcome
  «Wow, what a gathering we have here tonight. We’ve got dignitaries, celebrities, fans, and organizational members all brought together for one cause. Ours. Here’s an appreciative welcome to you all.»
• superb welcome
  «Ladies and gentlemen, the room is ready. The tables are set. The band is playing our theme song. And the waiting staff are preparing to take your orders. This is a superb welcome, fit for royalty, and that’s what you are to us.»
• delighted welcome
  «To our special guests; look around. See the smiles of everyone’s faces? We are truly delighted to welcome you here today.»
• favored welcome
  «Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have stars in the sky, and on stage. We are favored to welcome some the brightest the world has seen.»

Or a(n):

• honored welcome
  «I look around the stage and am in awe with the collected expertise gathered here. We are deeply honored to welcome you.»
• big welcome
  «Here’s to a big welcome for our guests; Lady Amelia Thistledown and Sir Roger Godfrey!»
• huge welcome
  «Ladies and gentlemen, please give a huge welcome to …»
• rapturous welcome
  «Do you hear the applause? The audience joins me in a rapturous welcome! We are thrilled to have you with us today.»
  

2. What about the guests you want to welcome?

Think about the guests you want to welcome as part of your speech. What sort of guests are they?  Is there a word, or two, you could use to describe them more fully?

Accurate descriptions of the people coming to the event, either as especially invited guests, or as members of the audience, helps build credibility and trust.

The care you take to find the right words is an excellent investment for everybody involved.

Could your guests be better described as:

3. What about the word «guests»?

Who are you talking to? Yes, everybody in the audience is a guest to your event but what could they be more accurately called? 

Are these people your:

• peers?
• colleagues?
• associates?
• friends?
• family?
• patrons?
• members?
• classmates?
• workmates?
• co-collaborators?
• fellow-travelers, nurses, teachers … ? (insert the appropriate descriptor)
• affiliates?
• visitors?
• citizens?
• cohorts?
• conspirators?
• comrades?
• companions?
• clients?
• customers?

And lastly, have fun experimenting!

Related pages:

• How to write a welcome speech — with a sample speech
• How to write a speech — step by step help — a good beginning point if you’ve never prepared a speech before.

• Back to top of phrases for welcome speeches
• Return to write-out-loud.com homepage

Need another word that means the same as “welcoming”? Find 30 related words for “welcoming” in this overview.

Table Of Contents:

• Associations of «Welcoming» (30 Words)

Associations of «Welcoming» (30 Words)

aloha	An acknowledgment that can be used to say hello or goodbye aloha is Hawaiian and ciao is Italian. From the first aloha everyone is friendly and attentive.
applause	Approval or praise expressed by clapping. They gave him a round of applause.
bye	You advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent. They said their good byes.
caller	An investor who buys a call option. The bailiff was a frequent caller.
cheerfully	In a cheerful manner. He was whistling cheerfully.
client	(in ancient Rome) a plebeian under the protection of a patrician. A client referred for counselling.
cordially	In a warm and friendly way. He was greeted cordially by the archbishop.
courteously	In a polite manner.
curtsy	Make a curtsy usually done only by girls and women as a sign of respect. She bobbed a curtsy to him.
friendly	Kind and pleasant. We want friendly relations with all countries.
goodbye	An instance of saying goodbye a parting. We said our goodbyes and set off.
greet	Send greetings to. Sam threw open the door and was greeted by a cacophony of noise.
greeting	A formal expression of goodwill, said on meeting or in a written message. Mandy shouted a greeting.
handshake	An act of shaking a person’s hand with one’s own as a greeting.
happily	It is fortunate that. They shouted happily.
hello	An utterance of hello a greeting. I pressed the phone button and helloed.
hi	An expression of greeting.
hospitable	Disposed to treat guests and strangers with cordiality and generosity. Hospitable invitations.
hospitality	Relating to or denoting the business of entertaining clients, conference delegates, or other official visitors. The BBC s hospitality suite.
host	A person who acts as host at formal occasions makes an introductory speech and introduces other speakers. Innsbruck once played host to the Winter Olympics.
kissing	Affectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs.
oh	A midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region.
politely	In a respectful and considerate manner. He waited politely for me to ask questions.
receptive	Able to receive signals or stimuli. Only the dominant male would have had access to the receptive female.
salutation	(usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting. We would not expect a love letter to include a formal address and salutation.
salute	Make a formal salute to. A twenty one gun salute.
warm	Get warm or warmer. A warm debate.
welcome	Bid welcome to greet upon arrival. I m pleased to see you lad you re welcome.
yeah	Not only so, but.
yes	An affirmative. Answering with assured and ardent yeses.

• #1

What is the meaning of «word of welcome» or «welcoming word»?
What the examples of these words?

• #2

What is the meaning of «word of welcome» or «welcoming word»?
What the examples of these words?

A word of welcome to you, ogbanap, I hope you enjoy the WR forum.

2 examples….

1. I would like to give you a word of welcome on joining the forum.
2. I hope you find my welcoming words as encouragement for you to participate in the forum…

GF..

• #3

They are what you say to people when you meet them to feel welcome and at home.

• #4

words as a noun can mean What tou say.In other words mean:saying it otherwise

• #5

A «word of welcome» is usually more than one word.

It can refer to an entire (short) speech. For example, if I’m a conference chair, I might take the podium and say «Our dean will now open the conference with a word of welcome.» This would probably be a short speech, no more than ten minutes, saying how happy she is to host all of the attendees on campus, how proud she is of her faculty members for organizing and hosting the conference, how she hopes all the participants will learn a lot and have a good time …

After that, she will go back to her office and do other things.

At the other extreme, if she and her husband visit my home, my word of welcome would be something like «Come in, come in! We’re so glad you could be here with us this evening!» Then we could talk about how she feels after falling off her horse, or something else.

As previously posted by George French, it doesn’t have to be spoken. One can be welcomed to the WR online community just as one is welcomed to a physical place.