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
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.
This is simply Sheridan’s pitch for escaping New York, but in a genteel manner.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026
Injury ended his gridiron dreams and led him onto the more genteel fields of baseball, where he became a peacekeeper rather than a mayhem maker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
The spat led to fears that curling was losing its once genteel image and the Canadians faced criticism in their own national media.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
The guy with the nose ring who decides goats, chickens, pigs and other livestock belong in his grandmother’s yard in suburban Indiana, to the despair of the genteel retirees across the street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
“Not at all. He was almost genteel as highwaymen go. I had him pegged as a low-ranking officer before he deserted.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
