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View synonyms for genteel

genteel

[ jen-teel ]

adjective

  1. belonging or suited to polite society.
  2. well-bred or refined; polite; elegant; stylish.
  3. affectedly or pretentiously polite, delicate, etc.


genteel

/ dʒɛnˈtiːl /

adjective

  1. affectedly proper or refined; excessively polite
  2. respectable, polite, and well-bred

    a genteel old lady

  3. appropriate to polite or fashionable society

    genteel behaviour

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • genˈteelly, adverb
  • genˈteelness, noun
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Other Words From

  • gen·teelly adverb
  • gen·teelness noun
  • pseudo·gen·teel adjective
  • quasi-gen·teel adjective
  • quasi-gen·teelly adverb
  • ungen·teel adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of genteel1

1590–1600; < French gentil; gentle
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Word History and Origins

Origin of genteel1

C16: from French gentil well-born; see gentle
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Example Sentences

In the genteel parlance of diplomat-speak, that counts as a dressing-down.

From Time

Preserving the spirit of that era is the Claremont Hotel, a genteel 1884 rambler in the Quiet Side town of Southwest Harbor.

Recline against your genteel friend as unobtrusively you can.

From Ozy

These nonchalant brutalities seem at first at odds with the genteel decorum that mostly cloaks late-19th century culture.

Champion Hill, where the book is set, is two quiet roads of genteel-looking houses, first settled in the 18th century.

This racial balancing act makes Belle one of the most genteel yet uncomfortable depictions of racism ever to grace the screen.

The Daily Pic: Steve Mumford's genteel watercolors capture the hard truths of Gitmo.

Mischievous, more bite than bark in the sense that it was mordant with minimal rhetoric, Heaney was not genteel.

"I bought them boots to wear only when I go into genteel society," said one of the codfish tribe, to a wag, the other day.

In those days, such a cage was considered a very genteel ornament for a New England kitchen.

Board and lodging in a genteel house, five-and-twenty Louis annually.

This day a genteel woman came to me, claiming kindred of me, as she had once done before, and borrowed 10s.

The more genteel worshippers take up their quarters mainly on the ground floor—at the back of the central seats and at the sides.

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