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.
Vocabulary lists containing suavity
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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"The Tell-Tale Heart," Vocabulary from the short story
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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.
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
There was the same luxury, the same silky suavity, the same lightness in the brasses, but also more fierceness and density.
From New York Times • Nov. 13, 2022
Looking like it was shot on a cheap video format, it lacks the original’s scares and suavity, apart from an early escape set piece designed to resemble a fluid take.
From New York Times • Aug. 18, 2022
His filmmaking is often noted for its surgical precision, a cliché that aptly evokes the discipline of his narrative construction and the suavity of his compositions.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2022
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
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.
