gent
noun
gent
1 American
[jent]
/ dʒɛnt /
noun
-
gents
plural
gent
2
American
[jent]
/ dʒɛnt /
adjective
Obsolete.
Gent
3
American
[kh ent]
/ xɛnt /
noun
Gent.
4
American
Or
gent.
abbreviation
Gent
1
British
/ xɛnt /
noun
gent
2
British
/ dʒɛnt /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gent1
First recorded in 1555–65; by shortening
Origin of gent2
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin genitus begotten, born
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:
When it was time for an elder gent to step to the podium, the judge brightened.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Earlier, on the way into her village, we drove past a jodhpur-clad gent on a horse, who gave us a roguish, charming smile.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2024
A well-educated cosmopolitan gent whose inherited family riches were expanded under his watch, a man who understood the economy and helped people manage their money, which was how he made money of his own.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2023
Only in the last verse does the listener learn that it wasn’t a woman who left the now crazed gent, but a dog.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2023
“That gent across the street. He’s trying to get your attention.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
“A really practical consideration is just the hair and make-up process of aging someone up or down,” said the screenwriter Holly Gent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
“We don’t have to stick to the cause-and-effect of which people are going to reappear later in the story,” Gent noted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
But as the script by Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo Jr. notes, this clique is in transition.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2025
Gent have lost only one of their 12 games this season in all competitions and are also one of the strongest teams in this competition.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2024
Gent here asking for you, Mr. Pape, not more than half hour ago....
From Lonesome Town by Ethel Dorrance
"I've met with the parents of Terri, her ex-partner, and also the parents of Connie Gent. I think all of them were shocked by what we had found."
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2023
In the Brooke-Dethick feud, it becomes clear that “Shakespeare, Gent. from Stratford” and “Shakespeare the Player” are the same man.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 7, 2017
George William Fairfax retained his property until March 1750, when he sold the lots to Willoughby Newton, Gent., for £41 18s. 6d.
From Seaport in Virginia George Washington's Alexandria by Gay Montague Moore
In 1660, William Harrison, Gent., was steward or 'factor' to the Viscountess Campden, in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, a single-streeted town among the Cotswold hills.
From Historical Mysteries by Andrew Lang
His sister was wife to Sir Nathaniel Brent, whose younger son Nathaniel left all his property to his cousin Maurice Abbott, of St. Andrew's, Holborn, Gent., in 1688; which Maurice was possibly son to Thomas.
From Notes and Queries, Number 228, March 11, 1854 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Various
FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday highlighted a separate partnership with the UFC to teach federal gents "amazing tactics so they can safeguard American lives."
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
“One of the gents has said on many occasions if he wasn’t in the group he wouldn’t be here now – the group has saved his life.”
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2024
Ladies and gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for — “The Greatest Showman” is coming to the stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2024
It’s definitely all about the gents for the foreseeable future.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2022
“Go and see what those gents in the Terrace Room want,” he said.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
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.
