nobility

American  

[noh-bil-i-tee] / noʊˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

• nobilities
  plural

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.

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nobility British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonnobility
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• nobilities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of nobility

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

Explanation

Nobility refers to a privileged class of people — often receiving hereditary titles — also called the aristocracy. You know the type. They hang around manors and castles, or curry favor at court. In the United states, there is no official class system, so there is no official noble class, or nobility. But nobility is also a synonym for nobleness — elevation of morals, ideals, or behavior. So if you have friends who always behave with generosity, honesty, and integrity, you may be surrounded by nobility — even if you don’t hang out with lords, baronesses, dukes, or ladies.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nobility nobilities

I mean the bit about relying on the collective nobility of our compatriots.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026

Hoping to attract the English nobility, the duke turned his apartments at Somerset House on the Thames into a space for dancing, drinking and eating all night.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

From Parsi philanthropists and Maharashtrian nobility to mill workers and marginalised migrant settlers, the photographs showcase the city's many faces that stake a claim to the making of Bombay.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

With “Linaje” — it translates to lineage, a term often associated with nobility and pedigree — the brothers are intent on sharing their hard-earned success with those they love most.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026

Woodhull married a wealthy English banker and lived comfortably the rest of her life; Tennessee Claflin married Francis Cook, a member of the British nobility, and became Lady Cook.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

It captures all the nobilities of the sport, in all its splendor, in two minutes flat.

From Time ● Apr. 6, 2015

As a result, moviegoers get a full treatment of the giant-sized nobilities and epic despairs that swirl up from Victorian drama, reflected in the iridescent mirror of fin de siecle Paris.

From Time Magazine Archive

Britain and France had hereditary nobilities; Britain still has a queen.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

His letters to himself, written as from his wife, to cover her shame and desertion, present a spectacle so magnanimous and pathetic as to upbraid us that we had never learned nobilities so sublime.

From A Hero and Some Other Folks by William A. (William Alfred) Quayle

It had been a hard moment for her, but he sprang high among the nobilities of her heart, and was sustained....

From She Buildeth Her House by William Wistar Comfort

Related Words

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