gentility

[ jen-til-i-tee ]

/ dʒɛnˈtɪl ɪ ti /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR gentility ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

good breeding or refinement.

affected or pretentious politeness or elegance.

the status of belonging to polite society.

members of polite society collectively.

Words nearby gentility

gentile, gentile da fabriano, gentileschi, gentilesse, gentilism, gentility, gentisate, gentisic acid, gentle, gentle breeze, gentle craft

Origin of gentility

1300–50; Middle English < Old French gentilite < Latin gentīlitāt- (stem of gentīlitās), equivalent to gentīl(is) (see gentle) + -itāt- -ity

SYNONYMS FOR gentility

1 polish, grace, decorum, propriety.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR gentility ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM gentility

un·gen·til·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for gentility

Packaging these rebuffs with gentility and kindness may or may not succeed.
How I Transformed My Boyfriend Into a Booty Call|Kate Carraway|November 8, 2008|DAILY BEAST
It is the garb most likely to obscure and set backward even a Walpole or a Chesterfield in any impression of gentility.
The President|Alfred Henry Lewis
She has the essence of gentility, and indeed her manners are better bred than most of our ladies.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 109, November, 1866|Various
Perhaps, after all, fear is at the root of the English veneration for gentility.
The Romany Rye|George Borrow

Madame's airs of gentility, though very amusing, were of course treated with due respect.
Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia|Thomas Forester
They separated humor from the old-style farce and gave it taste and gentility.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed.|S. A. Reilly

British Dictionary definitions for gentility

gentility

/ (dʒɛnˈtɪlɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

respectability and polite good breeding

affected politeness

noble birth or ancestry

people of noble birth

Word Origin for gentility

C14: from Old French gentilite, from Latin gentīlitās relationship of those belonging to the same tribe or family; see gens

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

gentility

noun

Words related to gentility

Words nearby gentility

Origin of gentility

SYNONYMS FOR gentility

OTHER WORDS FROM gentility

Examples from the Web for gentility

British Dictionary definitions for gentility

noun plural -ties

Word Origin for gentility