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:
Even the most polite friendships on the surface can slowly rot from the inside out.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026
His previous film, 2024’s “Speak No Evil,” was a malevolently funny skewering of polite manners and the modern manoverse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Despite the polite crowd at my screening, I wondered if questionable theater etiquette came into play elsewhere.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
I’m a very polite botherer, but it is still a bother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
But with me, I said, she was considerate and polite, and quite cooperative—well, mostly.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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
She makes unreasonable public demands, he apologizes for her, and then he not-so-subtly reiterates those demands in a slightly politer tone.
From Slate ● May 9, 2019
"This is a politer was of saying 'hysteria,'" Traister tweeted.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2018
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
‘Don’t believe what strangers say of themselves either! I am not a fighter. But it would be politer in any case for the challenger to say who he is.’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Describing the comments, Evans continued: "The comment thread was 'traitors', 'taxis for migrants', they were some of the politest ones."
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
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 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
They owed to him their two or three politest puzzles; and the joy and exultation with which at last he recalled, and rather sentimentally recited, that well-known charade,
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
