polite
Americanadjective
adjective
-
showing regard for others, in manners, speech, behaviour, etc; courteous
-
cultivated or refined
polite society
-
elegant or polished
polite letters
Synonym Usage
See civil.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of polite
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin polītus, past participle of polīre “to polish”; see polish
Explanation
Polite means showing regards for others in manners, speech, and behavior. Since you are a polite dinner guest, you thank the host for inviting you and, even though you think the chicken is not cooked to perfection, you tell her you are enjoying the meal. The adjective polite comes from the mid-13th century Latin politus, which means "refined" or "elegant." Showing consideration for others, using tact, and observing social norms are the qualities of being polite. The opposite of polite is rude. Because the poet E.E. Cummings thought imagination is most important, he wrote, “Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.”
Vocabulary lists containing polite
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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:
He leads from behind, they say, which is a polite way of saying he lets the ball and the trophies do the talking.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Perhaps more polite and compliant nations could make their peace with that arrangement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
The hope is to become a "big fish" who mediates between the grunts and those with cash, maybe even entering polite society.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
In person, Huang subdues his ironic braggadocio with polite eye contact and rolling belly laughs at his own jokes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Southern people got more polite when they were mad.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Bravo responded with a politer version in “Top Chef.”
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2026
An 18-year-old woman said ghosting was “a little bit politer way to reject someone than to directly say, ‘I do not want to chat with you.’
From Washington Post ● Jul. 25, 2022
In fact, the politer our discourse is in general, the more dramatic the effect when breaking the rules of politeness becomes necessary.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2018
She admires various classical and modern dancers and choreographers and works, but her own dancers enact a brash and pitiless system of movement that disdains and subverts politer forms.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 22, 2015
“I’d be politer, if I was you, to the man with the glamry blade.”
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Ebert, also 39, is the politest, a kind force who, 17 years later, remains the new guy after Johnson and Knobbe formed the band a year before.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026
The 20-year-old said she had only positive interactions with some of the men who live at the hotel, who she describes as "the politest people".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2025
“The politest way is to enlist the aid of the flight attendants,” says Jodi RR Smith, an etiquette consultant.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024
The journalist Stanley Booth, in his book “The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones,” about the glory and the depravity of the band’s 1969 American tour, described Watts as “the world’s politest man.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2021
They owed to him their two or three politest puzzles; and the joy and exultation with which at last he recalled, and rather sentimentally recited, that well-known charade,
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
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.
