courtly
Americanadjective
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polite, refined, or elegant.
courtly manners.
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flattering; obsequious.
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noting, pertaining to, or suitable for the court of a sovereign.
adverb
adjective
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of or suitable for a royal court
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refined in manner
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ingratiating
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of courtly
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at court, -ly
Explanation
The word courtly has nothing to do with a basketball court or court of law. Rather, courtly things relate to royal courts: they're sophisticated and grand. Think about the pomp that surrounds a royal wedding in England, and you'll get a sense of the lavish, expensive, regal nature of courtly things. Nothing courtly is common, cheap, or average. Since kings like the finer things in life, courtly things are similarly extravagant and impressive.
Vocabulary lists containing courtly
Tolkien Reading Day, List 11
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Red, White, and Whole
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Howl's Moving Castle
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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.
Next to pictures showing her and Bardella walking, holding hands, and clambering over rocks, Paris-Match waxes lyrical about a couple "reinventing courtly love – 21st Century-style".
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
The limpid four-movement ballet is both courtly and casual, with its intricately evolving choreographic patterns gently beguiling, as if seen in a crystalline hall of mirrors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026
“Irresistible” might be set in the period we know as the Victorian era, and there are royals and attendant paraphernalia, but lovers of polite courtly romances might want to steer clear.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 8, 2025
The courtly gentleman guided women around the floor to big band standards with all the aplomb of teenage boys waltzing at a cotillion dance they’ve been forced to attend by their parents.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2025
Nately’s father was a courtly white-haired gentleman who dressed impeccably; this old man was an uncouth bum.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
