gentle
Americanadjective
-
kindly; amiable.
a gentle manner.
-
not severe, rough, or violent; mild.
a gentle wind;
a gentle tap on the shoulder.
-
moderate.
gentle heat.
- Synonyms:
- temperate
-
gradual.
a gentle slope.
-
of good birth or family; wellborn.
- Synonyms:
- noble
-
characteristic of good birth; honorable; respectable.
a gentle upbringing.
-
easily handled or managed; tractable.
a gentle animal.
- Synonyms:
- tame, docile, manageable
-
soft or low.
a gentle sound.
-
polite; refined.
Consider, gentle reader, my terrible predicament at this juncture.
-
entitled to a coat of arms; armigerous.
-
Archaic. noble; chivalrous.
a gentle knight.
verb (used with object)
-
gentles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gentled,
past participle, past
-
gentling
present participle
-
to tame; render tractable.
-
to mollify; calm; pacify.
-
to make gentle.
-
to stroke; soothe by petting.
-
to ennoble; dignify.
adjective
-
having a mild or kindly nature or character
-
soft or temperate; mild; moderate
a gentle scolding
-
gradual
a gentle slope
-
easily controlled; tame
a gentle horse
-
archaic of good breeding; noble
gentle blood
-
archaic gallant; chivalrous
verb
-
to tame or subdue (a horse)
-
to appease or mollify
-
obsolete to ennoble or dignify
noun
-
a maggot, esp when used as bait in fishing
-
archaic a person who is of good breeding
Synonym Usage
Gentle, meek, mild refer to an absence of bad temper or belligerence. Gentle has reference especially to disposition and behavior, and often suggests a deliberate or voluntary kindness or forbearance in dealing with others: a gentle pat; gentle with children. Meek implies a submissive spirit, and may even indicate undue submission in the face of insult or injustice: meek and even servile or weak. Mild suggests absence of harshness or severity, rather because of natural character or temperament than conscious choice: a mild rebuke; a mild manner.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gentlesimple
-
gentlessimple
-
have gentledperfect
-
has gentledperfect
-
am gentlingprogressive
-
are gentlingprogressive
-
is gentlingprogressive
-
have been gentlingperfect progressive
-
has been gentlingperfect progressive
Past
-
gentledsimple
-
had gentledperfect
-
was gentlingprogressive
-
were gentlingprogressive
-
had been gentlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gentle
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English gentle, gentil(e), from Old French gentil “highborn, noble,” from Latin gentīlis “belonging to the same family,” equivalent to gent- (stem of gēns ) gens + -īlis -le
Explanation
Use the adjective gentle to describe something that is soothing or kind, like a person with a tender nature or the soft sound of light rain. The word gentle traces back to the Latin word gentlis, meaning “of the same clan,” and at first the world was used to describe people belonging to distinguished families, who were seen as courteous and noble. Nowadays you’re more likely to hear the word used to refer to things that are calm, moderate, and without harshness. The word is often applied to people, but it can be used more broadly to describe anything that is mild, such as "a gentle detergent" or "a gentle reminder."
Vocabulary lists containing gentle
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act IV
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Positive Words to Describe People, List 1
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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.
See Examples For:
For all the efforts needed to create this vast work, its presence was gentle and almost pastoral.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
He also recommends some gentle encouragement of positive things they like about school to ease some worries, such as lunchtime or playing sports with friends.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
From there it opens up, like a flower bud warming to summer, with acoustic guitar strumming, a gentle rhythm section and a gospel choir echoing with otherworldly lightness.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
Kelly’s imposing height, several inches above 6 feet, contrasts with his soft facial features and warm smile, making him the poster child for the figure of the gentle giant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
After a while she felt the nurse’s gentle hand on her shoulder.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
Repairs start with a digger light enough not to cause fresh damage, which pulls the bare peat back to a gentler slope and folds the vegetation over it.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
But she acknowledges that her distinct approach — kinder, gentler, more tearful — is rooted in her particular skill set: “It’s similar to how I responded to being led in kitchens,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
It then rises more slowly, giving volcanic gases additional time to escape and making a gentler, effusive eruption more likely.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
The prevailing aural color works best in the gentler sections, such as Niamara’s appealing aria, “Love, love, come to me.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
In Iceland, naturally by its position the last northern country to be Christianized, the missionaries seem to have been gentler, or, perhaps, they had less influence.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
"He was the gentlest soul who was the first to be there for all of his friends and family."
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
The assortment of fried, smothered, pickled or barbecued options guide your steps into the gentlest of food comas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2024
“You have the gentlest voice,” Sonia tells him.
From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
“Mal was the nicest, gentlest person,” George Harrison lamented.
From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2023
By the end of the second week, she was standing and belching and chewing her cud—the gentlest cow I ever milked.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
Coconut milk gentles the green-chile heat in the thick, creamy sauce.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2017
Mallory Ortberg: That’s all for this week, gentles.
From Slate ● Nov. 29, 2016
Saturday's conditions at Whistling Straits led to outstanding scores, as gentles breezes off Lake Michigan, combined with greens that Phil Mickelson described as "pristine, beautiful, large and receptive," produced a festival of birdies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2015
Beside a shallow pool at the ring's center, a young woman gentles a skittery gray horse, their reflections glimmering on the water's turquoise surface.
From Time Magazine Archive
And right anon the gentles gan to cry ‘Nay! let him tell us of no ribaldry....’
From Chaucer and His England by G. G. Coulton
It seems somehow like he’s gentled us into it with benevolent trickery — as if he’d said, “Look! Over there,” and while we were distracted ripped a Band-Aid off our skin.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
On the phone from Britain, Wainwright speaks in quick, declarative sentences, gentled a bit by her Yorkshire accent with its long A’s, round O’s and forgiving consonants, but still quite direct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2019
After nearly 20 years as a gallery destination, and despite a spate of sleek new apartment buildings, it is still nothing but art, and it still feels surprisingly raw — gentrified but not especially gentled.
From New York Times ● Apr. 21, 2011
Luckily, when I arrived here 20 years ago I was already so bitter and twisted from supporting the Boro for three decades that if anything the added sourness and torque have gentled my disposition.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 7, 2010
Fitzsimmons had gentled plenty of miscreants, but he had no answers for Hard Tack.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Like a grade-school teacher, the matrix provides a physical framework that supports and organizes the cells, gentling and channeling them to harmoniously create a functional tissue.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 1, 2024
Canfield’s debut feature is infused with its own measure of that gentling spirit.
From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2022
These handling and gentling exercises will essentially be like playing doctor with your puppy.
From Fox News ● Mar. 23, 2022
This gentling spares many vulnerable kids years of suffering.
From Slate ● Apr. 8, 2013
Her bare hands worked them into the ground, prodding and gentling, as if putting to bed an endless supply of small children.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
