Open-minded means willing to listen to and accept new ideas, opinions and experiences. It's praise for someone who listens to other views, tries unfamiliar things and doesn't judge in advance. It's about someone's views, not about how sociable they are.
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be open-minded about + topic; an open-minded + person/approach; open-minded enough to + verb
- My manager is open-minded about remote work, so I can stay home on Fridays.
- Try to be open-minded when you travel and taste the local food.
- An open-minded teacher listens to students even when they disagree with her.
What changed
First versionMy new colleague is very open-minded: she chats with everyone in the kitchen.
RevisionMy new colleague is very outgoing: she chats with everyone in the kitchen.
Open sounds like a word for a friendly, sociable person, so open-minded is tempting for someone who's easy to talk to. But open-minded is about views. A colleague who chats with everyone in the kitchen is outgoing.
Open on its own, without -minded, describes honesty: She's very open about her feelings, she doesn't hide them. The opposite of open-minded is narrow-minded, unwilling to accept other views: He's too narrow-minded to accept any other point of view.
Your turn
He listens to every new idea before he judges it. He's very ___.
Show the answer
open-minded — He listens to new ideas before he judges them, and that's exactly open-minded. Outgoing is about being sociable, but this sentence is about his views.
Describe someone you know who accepts new things easily. Say what exactly they're open-minded about.
My aunt is very open-minded about my career, so she supported me when I left law to study design.
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