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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

And now a Mediterranean villa on a hillside in genteel Bel-Air has become the latest target of mysterious graffiti vandals.

This has been played down by his admirers as a kind of genteel, country-club antisemitism somehow distinguishable from the bad kind.

From Salon

Well, the amazing thing about Lewis Powell on the Supreme Court is that Powell is sort of a classic Southern lawyer, a genteel racist.

From Salon

Derailing the training center is a longshot, but Chambers is committed to last-ditch efforts — and, in turn, to thumbing his nose at the genteel relatives from whom he is estranged.

Yet despite its genteel reputation and simple objective — touch an opponent with your blade before being touched — the sport has long been rife with drama and suspicion.

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gentamicingenteelism