nobility

[noh-bil-i-tee]

noun

plural

nobilities 

1. the noble class or the body of nobles in a country.

2. (in Britain) the peerage.

3. the state or quality of being noble.

4. nobleness of mind, character, or spirit; exalted moral excellence.

5. grandeur or magnificence.

6. noble birth or rank.

nobility

/ nəʊˈbɪlɪtɪ /

noun

1. a socially or politically privileged class whose titles are conferred by descent or by royal decree

2. the state or quality of being morally or spiritually good; dignity

   the nobility of his mind

3. (in the British Isles) the class of people holding the titles of dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, or barons and their feminine equivalents collectively; peerage

Other Word Forms

• nonnobility noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of nobility¹

1350–1400; Middle English nobilite < Latin nōbilitās. See noble, -ity

Example Sentences

As does the Constitution, which forbids the federal government and the states from granting any “title of nobility.”

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Radical new measures that included abolishing the nobility were introduced to keep the revolution alive.

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Merchants could suddenly earn fortunes rivaling the landholding nobility, and strange ideas could undermine intellectual elites.

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She makes references to King Kalakaua, Queen Lili’uokalani and other Hawaiian nobility few in a mainland audience are likely to know.

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Chris is a man of low social standing, unlike Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince or Clark Kent, whose social nobility somehow infers a level of trustworthiness.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• dignity 
• generosity 
• grandeur 
• greatness 
• integrity 
• superiority 
• upper class 
• virtue