polite
Americanadjective
adjective
-
showing regard for others, in manners, speech, behaviour, etc; courteous
-
cultivated or refined
polite society
-
elegant or polished
polite letters
Synonym Usage
See civil.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of polite
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin polītus, past participle of polīre “to polish”; see polish
Explanation
Polite means showing regards for others in manners, speech, and behavior. Since you are a polite dinner guest, you thank the host for inviting you and, even though you think the chicken is not cooked to perfection, you tell her you are enjoying the meal. The adjective polite comes from the mid-13th century Latin politus, which means "refined" or "elegant." Showing consideration for others, using tact, and observing social norms are the qualities of being polite. The opposite of polite is rude. Because the poet E.E. Cummings thought imagination is most important, he wrote, “Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.”
Vocabulary lists containing polite
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I called Erica Walker, an epidemiologist who runs Brown University’s Community Noise Lab, to rant at a polite volume about the speakerphone epidemic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
There’s a hard actuarial truth to age-gap planning — and that, in the polite words of adviser Matthew Chancey, is that “sooner or later, one of you is taxed as a single.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
Are we all going to have the same dolphin-smooth faces soon, with filler and face-lifts simply the price of admission for participating in polite society?
From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026
Be polite: Don't just launch in with "I'm on annual leave".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
I looked at Helena, eating biscuits much faster than was polite, and shook my head.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Bravo responded with a politer version in “Top Chef.”
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2026
An 18-year-old woman said ghosting was “a little bit politer way to reject someone than to directly say, ‘I do not want to chat with you.’
From Washington Post ● Jul. 25, 2022
And the video has so many star cameos it feels like a politer version of that misbegotten cover of “Imagine.”
From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2020
She admires various classical and modern dancers and choreographers and works, but her own dancers enact a brash and pitiless system of movement that disdains and subverts politer forms.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 22, 2015
“I’d be politer, if I was you, to the man with the glamry blade.”
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Ebert, also 39, is the politest, a kind force who, 17 years later, remains the new guy after Johnson and Knobbe formed the band a year before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
The 20-year-old said she had only positive interactions with some of the men who live at the hotel, who she describes as "the politest people".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2025
“The politest way is to enlist the aid of the flight attendants,” says Jodi RR Smith, an etiquette consultant.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
Castellanos is emblematic of these Phillies in that he is more slugger than defender, in the politest of terms.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 29, 2022
“I’m not sure how it’s possible that your outfit not only clashes but that it’s even louder than you,” Thorn said in her politest voice.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
