suave

[swahv]

adjective

suaver, suavest 

1. (of persons or their manner, speech, etc.) smoothly agreeable or polite; agreeably or blandly urbane.

   Synonyms: worldly, sophisticated

suave

/ ˈswɑːvɪtɪ, swɑːv /

adjective

1. (esp of a man) displaying smoothness and sophistication in manner or attitude; urbane

Other Word Forms

• suavely adverb
• suaveness noun
• suavity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of suave¹

1495–1505; < French < Latin suāvis sweet

Word History and Origins

Origin of suave¹

C16: from Latin suāvis sweet

Example Sentences

Virginia depicted herself and her husband Leonard “lying crushed under an immense manuscript of Gertrude Stein’s”—and so, literary modernism’s eccentric pioneer was rejected by its suavest representative.

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In addition, Mr. Denton’s delivery ranges from pugnacious to hostile and in contrast to all the suave vampires around him, Guy is a consistently unpleasant human.

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In Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had the option of choosing a suave political moderate in Shinjiro Koizumi to lead it into the next election.

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In Myers’ music, which he writes mostly himself, even the drinking songs feel pretty suave; he’s always using his dreamy eyes to beam a gentlemanly sincerity.

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Fast forward 2½ decades, and “The Waterfront” features a suave, queer character named Shawn who gets a job as a bartender at the Buckleys’ seafood restaurant.

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Related Words

• affable 
• courteous 
• courtly 
• genial 
• ingratiating 
• polite 
• soft-spoken 
• sophisticated 
• urbane 
• worldly