suavity

American  

[swah-vi-tee, swav-i-] / ˈswɑ vɪ ti, ˈswæv ɪ- /

Also suaveness

noun

suavities plural

1. a suave or smoothly agreeable quality.

2. suavities, suave or courteous actions or manners; amenities.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• suavities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of suavity

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin suāvitās pleasantness, equivalent to suāv ( is ) sweet + -itās -ity

Explanation

Suavity is the art of making people like and want to be around you, like the celebrity whose suavity helped him land great movie roles — even though he wasn't the most talented actor to audition. Suavity, pronounced "SWAH-vuh-tee," depends on saying all the right things to "get in good" with everyone around. So, though it is a graceful and often helpful thing to have suavity, it also might be a little less than real: In avoiding any topic that might get the conversation moving in a more lively and even heated direction, those who possess great suavity may also make things a little boring, fake, even. Talking about the weather and where everyone went on vacation does get a bit old.

Example Sentences

Even then, I understood that the sedulous life and inclination of the archaeologist were ill-suited to movie-spy suavity.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

Those dudes are trying to play the sinister “ugly American” roles, although with a singular lack of suavity and not much success.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2025

A laid-back number that flirts with western swing, Buffett rhapsodizes about an outdated style of facial hair that conveys a certain classic Hollywood suavity.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2023

The Appalachian truffle has a suavity and sophistication that only a few European varieties can match.

From Washington Post • Dec. 1, 2021

I attended to all the ghastly formalities, and the urbane undertaker proved that his staff were afflicted—or blessed—with something of his own obsequious suavity.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker