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
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of genteel
1590–1600; < French gentil; see gentle
Explanation
Although the adjective genteel means high-class and refined, it is often used today in a somewhat mocking tone, as though good manners and elegance are passé. Still, it would be nice if more people were a little more genteel. The word genteel comes from the Old French word gentil, "high-born, noble." We can see the similarity to the word gentle, as in gentleman and gentlewoman. The word is especially powerful in describing Chaucer's Knight in the Canterbury Tales as "a verray, parfit gentil knyght" — "a true, perfect, noble knight," dignified, patrician, and as genteel as they come. Today, it describes someone elegant, fashionable, and well-bred. Picture someone in riding jodhpurs reading Town and Country while astride a magnificent show horse.
Vocabulary lists containing genteel
100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Johnny Tremain
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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.
Genteel Southern culture figured more prominently in Wu’s upbringing than ancient Chinese traditions did.
From The New Yorker • Sep. 16, 2019
His, is a contrived Genteel feebleness and "daintines"; almost like he needs smelling-salts if he is challenged.
From New York Times • Jan. 23, 2018
Genteel and wryly suave, Nick seldom tangles physically with the blackmailers, assassins and sundry evildoers whom he ferrets out with one hand while reaching for a martini with the other.
From Time Magazine Archive
Genteel, analytical and quietly shrewd, he's a Civil War buff with degrees from Princeton and M.I.T.
From Time Magazine Archive
Genteel flies and hired carriages with two horses, and hood and foot-board—pass, repass, and out-race each other.
From The Italians by Elliot, Frances
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.
