easy-going

easy-going — adjective

1. An easy-going person has a calm nature — they do not get annoyed, stressed, or w

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

An easy-going person has a calm nature — they do not get annoyed, stressed, or worried easily, and they accept other people and situations without complaining or judging.

Example

Our team leader Felix is easy-going, so staff feel comfortable sharing their ideas.

easy-going + so-clause showing a consequence of the personality

The Hui family are easy-going hosts who never mind if dinner is served late.

Common collocations
  • easy-going personality
  • easy-going nature
  • easy-going manner
  • easy-going attitude
  • easy-going person
  • easy-going approach
  • easy-going about something
  • very/quite/pretty easy-going
Synonyms
  • laid-back

    informal; suggests even less visible stress than easy-going

  • relaxed

    broader meaning — can describe a mood, atmosphere, or place, not just a person

  • mellow

    informal; implies a pleasantly calm, unhurried feeling

  • carefree

    positive but can imply a lack of concern about responsibilities

Antonyms
  • uptight

    informal; describes someone who is overly anxious or strict

  • strict

    focuses on following rules closely, the opposite of accepting different ways of doing things

  • tense

    describes nervous worry or inability to relax

Grammar Patterns

be + easy-going

easy-going + noun (person, manner, attitude, nature)

easy-going about + noun/gerund

Usage Note

Describes a person's stable character trait, not a temporary mood. You describe someone as easy-going in general, not because of how they behave on one particular day.

Common Mistakes

My new boss is very easy, so I feel relaxed at work.
My new boss is very easy-going, so I feel relaxed at work.
'easy' describes difficulty level; 'easy-going' describes a relaxed personality.
It was easy-going to finish the assignment before class.
The assignment was easy to finish before class.
'easy-going' only describes a person's character, not the difficulty of a task or the ease of an action.

Word family

  • take it easy
    idiomB1
  • go easy on
    phraseB2
  • easily
    adverbA2
  • ease
    nounB2
  • ease
    verbB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe a calm, untroubled personality, but they differ in formality and scope. Relaxed is the most general — it can describe a person, a mood, a place, or even clothing ('a relaxed evening with friends'). Laid-back is informal and strongly suggests that someone does not get stressed even in situations that would upset most people ('a laid-back surfer who never rushes'). Mellow is also informal and usually suggests a pleasant, gentle calmness that comes with comfort or age ('a mellow old dog that sleeps by the fire'). Carefree is positive but can carry a slight implication of avoiding responsibility ('a carefree summer vacation'). Easy-going is the most neutral and widely useful of the four for describing a person who accepts others without annoyance or judgment.

laid-back ↗relaxed ↗mellowcarefree ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • as easy-going as
  • more easy-going than

Prepositions

Etymology

English

The term comes from the phrase 'easy going,' first used in the 1600s to describe a road or path that was comfortable and unhurried to travel on. By the 1800s, the meaning shifted from a physical journey to a person's way of moving through life — someone who has a comfortable, relaxed manner. The hyphenated form 'easy-going' became standard in the 1900s.