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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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:
Everett added that he wants to teach him that strength and being gentle “are not opposites.”
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026
Others compile more sedate moments under labels like "gentle tension" or "chill elder emo watching Traitors".
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
His comments go much further than the gentle diplomatic pressure Malaysia's government has so far applied, but they reflect a simmering frustration with Indonesia's inability to control the fires.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Rob Reiner’s career began on television, and after leaving “All in the Family” he continued to perform, transforming tonally into a sort of gentle Jewish Buddha onscreen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
I smiled at how my name came out as “Thena,” with his gentle lisp compounded by the gaps in his teeth.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
For example, perhaps increased closeness to parents facilitated by smartphones or gentler parenting styles leads young adults in their 20s and early 30s to be more comfortable living with their folks.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
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
In late spring, Tall Andras had a plump newborn son, and there were lambs prancing in the upper meadow, their soft fleece warm in the changed, gentler weather.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
"People have come back to tell me that he had the gentlest soul, he's hard-working - and he was very hard-working right until his last breath."
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026
Leave it to Kelly Reichardt, who turned Michelle Williams into a seething sculptor with frenemy issues in “Showing Up,” to make the gentlest, most self-deprecating heist movie imaginable.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025
“These are hard times, and the world is already aflame. The least we can do is refrain from setting alight some of the world’s sharpest and gentlest creatures.”
From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024
Folky fingerpicking and new-agey thoughts about self-help make “Deeper Well” one of the gentlest but firmest rebuffs imaginable.
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 2024
When I finished crying, there wasn’t a sound to be heard except for the gentlest lap of waves on the nearby sandbar.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
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
How both gentles and peasants acted can be exactly known through the Archives of Eu.
From Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle 1652-1693 by Arvede Barine
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
I don’t want to be gentled, like I’m something wild and alarming.
From The Guardian ● May 8, 2016
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
“No. I have handled him and gentled him. Also, he’s not feeling very fierce just now because of the long journey he’s had, and the operation. Do you like him?”
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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
Gradually we drifted off, the whispers of breeze-blown branches and the breathing of horses gentling us to sleep.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
