genteel
Americanadjective
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belonging or suited to polite society.
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well-bred or refined; polite; elegant; stylish.
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affectedly or pretentiously polite, delicate, etc.
adjective
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affectedly proper or refined; excessively polite
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respectable, polite, and well-bred
a genteel old lady
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appropriate to polite or fashionable society
genteel behaviour
Other Word Forms
- genteelly adverb
- genteelness noun
- pseudogenteel adjective
- quasi-genteel adjective
- quasi-genteelly adverb
- ungenteel adjective
Etymology
Origin of genteel
1590–1600; < French gentil; gentle
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.
Romney writes that the Austens “were a genteel family — upper-class but not titled.”
From Los Angeles Times
Entertainment, of a presumably worthy variety — which is not to say genteel or exclusive — has long been a key element in the system’s programming and a cornerstone of its fundraising.
From Los Angeles Times
It’s an off-brand, pioneer town that has so far resisted any whiff of genteel urbanity.
From Los Angeles Times
Though he bridled against the genteel expectations of his upbringing, he was popular and effortlessly debonair.
Alice wants to organize a march in Washington D.C. to force the president’s reluctant hand, but Carrie prefers a more genteel strategy.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
