Is there any difference between "congenial" and "genial"?

Question

As the question implies, I'm interested in only the linguistic distinction between the two words I've listed. I've looked up these two words on some online dictionaries. After some searching, I've noticed that congenial and genial are nearly identical in meaning.

Take Lexico, for example (this online dictionary provides example sentences with the definition entries):

1. Congenial:

congenial
ADJECTIVE:

1. (of a person) pleasant because of a personality, qualities, or interests that are similar to one's own.
   ‘his need for some congenial company’

        1.1. (of a thing) pleasant or agreeable because suited to one's taste or inclination.
              ‘he went back to a climate more congenial to his cold stony soul’

2. Genial:

genial
ADJECTIVE

1. Friendly and cheerful.
   ‘waved to them in genial greeting’

        1.1. literary (especially of air or climate) pleasantly mild and warm.
              ‘He felt the students piled behind him surge out of the doors and walk around him hurriedly, as he stopped for a moment to breathe in the genial summer air.’

No matter which way I try to interpret it, my brain perceives the two words as having the common dictionary definition of "friendly and pleasant". I am trying to see a concrete difference between congenial and genial. They do not seem so different to me when I examine them that way, but by seeing their usage in a variety of sentences it seems like there is a difference between them.

Answer 1

A genial person is pleasant and friendly in their behaviour. Because of this, you will probably find them congenial [to you].

As you see from the definition you found, congenial always has the sense of being appealing or well-suited to someone in particular.

Answer 2

Is there any difference between "congenial" and "genial"?

Yes. The sources below cover the subtle difference(s) between the two words:

From The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style by Bryan A. Garner:

congenial; genial. A subtle difference exists and should be promoted. Congenial = (1) having similar tastes; compatible; kindred <a congenial married couple>; or (2) to one's liking; suitable; pleasant <a congenial workplace>. Genial = affable; friendly; cordial . Thus, genial applies to individuals, while congenial is generally reserved for persons collectively or for environments.

From Who's Whose?: A no-nonsense guide to easily confused words by Philip Gooden:

CONGENIAL or GENIAL

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There's more than a shade of meaning between these two words and the careful user will pick the right one for the right context.

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Congenial and genial both carry the general sense of 'friendly', but congenial tends to be applied to surroundings and atmospheres rather than to individuals. It also means 'sympathetic' or 'suitable', as in this example:

. . . the hour and the place were congenial to supernatural cogitations .. . when I asked him who or what might occupy the tunnels at night . . . (The Times)

Genial is used about people and means 'pleasant', 'cheerful':

He's a naturally genial man, good company, and will be the host at dinner and in the bar . . . (Guardian)

Embarrassment rating: 000, since the two words can be swapped around at a pinch. However, it would be wrong to refer to a place as being genial to a particular activity.

How to avoid: Use congenial about place and atmosphere; use genial of people.

From The Columbia Guide to Standard American English by Kenneth G. Wilson:

congenial, genial (adjs.) If you meet someone genial, you may find him or her congenial too, but usually when used of people genial is personal and congenial is characteristic of groups and of an individual's relationships to them.

From The Facts on File Guide to Good Writing by Martin H. Manser:

congenial/genial  Congenial and genial both mean "pleasant" or "sociable," but there are differences in the way they are used. Congenial is generally used in referring to abstract nouns (congenial surroundings), whereas genial usually refers to people (a genial stranger, our genial host).

From How to Tell Fate from Destiny: And Other Skillful Word Distinctions by Charles H. Elster:

genial, congenial

Genial means "friendly, cordial, cheerful; and suggests an affable, sympathetic, outgoing personality: a genial disposition; their genial dinner hosts; his genial greeting. Congenial means either "agreeable, pleasant, suited to one's tastes or preferences" (a congenial climate; their congenial home; a congenial place to work) or "compatible, well-suited in feeling or taste" (a congenial couple; congenial conversation; congenial coworkers).

A genial person is always friendly and outgoing, but congenial people may find their compatibility in happiness or in misery, which of course loves company. Also, genial is usually used of an individual or no more than a few people, while congenial may be used of two or more people, of people collectively, or of an environment or setting.

Answer 3

Harry Shaw, Dictionary of Problem Words and Phrases (1975) offers this brief discussion of how the two terms differ:

congenial, genial. Congenial means "compatible," "allied in spirit, temper, and feeling," "suited to one another": "The players on this team are congenial." "At the party you will find a congenial atmosphere." Genial means "cordial," "cheerful," "sympathetic": "Our host was in a genial mood. Genial also means "favorable for growth or comfort": "They enjoyed the genial climate of Florida." "A group of genial persons is likely to find that they are congenial with each other."

I must say that I am far more familiar with the "cordial, cheerful, sympathetic" sense of genial than with the "favorable for growth or comfort" sense.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms (1984) is so far from considering the two words close synonyms that it puts them in separate groups of synonyms. Congenial appears in a bundle with consonant, consistent, compatible, congruous, and sympathetic:

Consonant, consistent, compatible, congruous, congenial, sympathetic are comparable when they mean being in agreement with one another or agreeable one to the other. ... Congenial is most often used of persons or things that are in such harmony with the taste of a person that they afford him pleasure or delight or satisfaction.{a congenial companion} {a pair of not very congenial passengers—Conrad} {the reticence and understatement of of the method made it specially congenial [to the Chinese]—Binyon} {[Hobbes's] theory of government is congenial to that type of person who is conservative from prudence but revolutionary in his dreams—T. S. Eliot} {the ideal of a Greek democracy was vastly congenial to his aristocratic temperament—Parrington} Occasionally congenial is used of things in the sense of wholly and satisfyingly congruous {all such introduced ideas are congenial to the subject—Alexander} {statement, overstatement, and understatement in letters given a congenial context, every one of them is right—Montague}

And genial appears in a bundle with gracious, cordial, affable, and sociable:

gracious, cordial, affable, genial, sociable are used to describe persons or their words or acts who or which are markedly pleasant and easy in social intercourse. ... Genial sometimes emphasizes cheerfulness and even joviality. Often, however, it stresses qualities that make for good cheer among companions (a warm human sympathy and a fine sense of humor) {a genial host} {he was no fanatic and no ascetic. He was genial, social, even convivial—Goldwin Smith}

So on the one hand you have congenial as a characteristic emphasizing compatibility, and on the other hand you have genial as a characteristic emphasizing good cheer. As Shaw suggests the "spirit, temper, and feeling" that congenial people have in common need not be cheerful in the least; it need only be shared. But genial is intrinsically about good spirits, a sociable temper, and affable feelings.