genteel
belonging or suited to polite society.
well-bred or refined; polite; elegant; stylish.
affectedly or pretentiously polite, delicate, etc.
Origin of genteel
1Other words from genteel
- gen·teel·ly, adverb
- gen·teel·ness, noun
- pseu·do·gen·teel, adjective
- qua·si-gen·teel, adjective
- qua·si-gen·teel·ly, adverb
- un·gen·teel, adjective
Words Nearby genteel
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use genteel in a sentence
In the genteel parlance of diplomat-speak, that counts as a dressing-down.
Preserving the spirit of that era is the Claremont Hotel, a genteel 1884 rambler in the Quiet Side town of Southwest Harbor.
Don’t call it relaxation. On this Maine island, vacation is for rusticating. | Jen Rose Smith | September 10, 2021 | Washington PostRecline against your genteel friend as unobtrusively you can.
These nonchalant brutalities seem at first at odds with the genteel decorum that mostly cloaks late-19th century culture.
The Magazine That Made—and Unmade—Politicians | Anthony Haden-Guest | November 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTChampion Hill, where the book is set, is two quiet roads of genteel-looking houses, first settled in the 18th century.
Sarah Waters: Queen of the Tortured Lesbian Romance | Tim Teeman | September 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
This racial balancing act makes Belle one of the most genteel yet uncomfortable depictions of racism ever to grace the screen.
Can ‘Belle’ End Hollywood’s Obsession with the White Savior? | Keli Goff | May 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Daily Pic: Steve Mumford's genteel watercolors capture the hard truths of Gitmo.
Mischievous, more bite than bark in the sense that it was mordant with minimal rhetoric, Heaney was not genteel.
"I bought them boots to wear only when I go into genteel society," said one of the codfish tribe, to a wag, the other day.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; | VariousIn those days, such a cage was considered a very genteel ornament for a New England kitchen.
Board and lodging in a genteel house, five-and-twenty Louis annually.
This day a genteel woman came to me, claiming kindred of me, as she had once done before, and borrowed 10s.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel PepysThe more genteel worshippers take up their quarters mainly on the ground floor—at the back of the central seats and at the sides.
Our Churches and Chapels | Atticus
British Dictionary definitions for genteel
/ (dʒɛnˈtiːl) /
affectedly proper or refined; excessively polite
respectable, polite, and well-bred: a genteel old lady
appropriate to polite or fashionable society: genteel behaviour
Origin of genteel
1Derived forms of genteel
- genteelly, adverb
- genteelness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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