genteel


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genteel

belonging to polite society; well-bred or refined; polite; elegant: She has the genteel demeanor of a woman of breeding.
Not to be confused with:
gentile – pertaining to non-Jewish people, especially a Christian
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

gen·teel

 (jĕn-tēl′)
adj.
1. Refined or polite, often in an affected way: "Who better to domesticate him than the most genteel woman in the world? What better to housebreak him than ... a delicate actress with beautiful diction for his wife?" (Philip Roth). See Synonyms at polite.
2. Typical or characteristic of the upper class: "His family background was somewhat less genteel than his Brahmin name and Harvard pedigree might suggest" (Scot French).
3. Elegantly stylish or fashionable: genteel manners and appearance.

[French gentil, from Old French; see gentle.]

gen·teel′ly adv.
gen·teel′ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

genteel

(dʒɛnˈtiːl)
adj
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.
[C16: from French gentil well-born; see gentle]
genˈteelly adv
genˈteelness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gen•teel

(dʒɛnˈtil)

adj.
1. belonging or suited to polite society.
2. well-bred; polite; elegant.
3. affectedly polite or delicate.
[1590–1600; < Middle French gentil; see gentle]
gen•teel′ly, adv.
gen•teel′ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.genteel - marked by refinement in taste and manners; "cultivated speech"; "cultured Bostonians"; "cultured tastes"; "a genteel old lady"; "polite society"
refined - (used of persons and their behavior) cultivated and genteel; "she was delicate and refined and unused to hardship"; "refined people with refined taste"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

genteel

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

genteel

adjective
1. Characterized by good manners:
2. Marked by excessive concern for propriety and good form:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
أنيق جِدّا
přepjatýuhlazený
fornem
góîborgaralegur; tilgerîarlegur
gerai išauklėtasgeros manierosgerų manierų
pārsmalcināts
aşırı kibarçıtkırıldım

genteel

[dʒenˈtiːl] ADJ
1. (= middle-class) [person] → elegante, refinado; [manners] → refinado, fino; [atmosphere] → elegante
a genteel resort on the south coastun elegante centro turístico de la costa del sur
to live in genteel povertyvivir modestamente pero con dignidad
2. (pej) (= affected) → afectado
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

genteel

[dʒɛnˈtiːl] adj
[person] → distingué(e)
[place] → raffiné(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

genteel

adj
(= refined) person, institution, atmosphere, placevornehm; family, mannersvornehm, fein; to live in genteel povertyarm, aber vornehm leben ? shabby
(= overpolite)geziert; (= euphemistic) term, languagebeschönigend
n the genteel pl (form)die Vornehmen pl
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

genteel

[dʒɛnˈtiːl] adj (affectedly polite) → affettato/a; (old) (refined) → distinto/a, raffinato/a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

genteel

(dʒənˈtiːl) adjective
acting, talking etc with a very great (often too great) attention to the rules of polite behaviour. She was laughed at for being too genteel.
genˈteelly adverb
genˈteelness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
He ought never to have made the concession, he said, but the very genteel lady had so passionately prayed him for the accommodation of that room to dine in, only for a little half-hour, that he had been vanquished.
Even envious Miss Briggs never spoke ill of her; high and mighty Miss Saltire (Lord Dexter's granddaughter) allowed that her figure was genteel; and as for Miss Swartz, the rich woolly-haired mulatto from St.
I do not believe that there was in that genteel Bohemia an intensive culture of chastity, but I do not remember so crude a promiscuity as seems to be practised in the present day.
"Ye-es," repeated Miss Flite in her most genteel accents, "my executor, administrator, and assign.
Mrs Kenwigs, too, was quite a lady in her manners, and of a very genteel family, having an uncle who collected a water-rate; besides which distinction, the two eldest of her little girls went twice a week to a dancing school in the neighbourhood, and had flaxen hair, tied with blue ribbons, hanging in luxuriant pigtails down their backs; and wore little white trousers with frills round the ankles--for all of which reasons, and many more equally valid but too numerous to mention, Mrs Kenwigs was considered a very desirable person to know, and was the constant theme of all the gossips in the street, and even three or four doors round the corner at both ends.
Among those who failed to appear were "the genteel lady and her old- maidish daughter," who had only been lodgers in the house for the last fortnight, but had several times complained of the noise and uproar in Katerina Ivanovna's room, especially when Marmeladov had come back drunk.
"So am I, my boy; but he has to thank you more than me; we must now be looking out for a quiet, genteel place for him, where he will be valued."
As soon as divine service was over, the Thorpes and Allens eagerly joined each other; and after staying long enough in the pump-room to discover that the crowd was insupportable, and that there was not a genteel face to be seen, which everybody discovers every Sunday throughout the season, they hastened away to the Crescent, to breathe the fresh air of better company.
The new soldiers were now produced before the officer, who having examined the six-feet man, he being first produced, came next to survey Jones: at the first sight of whom, the lieutenant could not help showing some surprize; for besides that he was very well dressed, and was naturally genteel, he had a remarkable air of dignity in his look, which is rarely seen among the vulgar, and is indeed not inseparably annexed to the features of their superiors.
After some consideration, he went into business as an Informer, in which calling he realises a genteel subsistence.
But a most genteel and elegant little dog infinitely superior company to Cousin Tabitha Twitchit."
It is true he had spent the difference that morning on an eye-glass that he never used, or when he did it was only to obscure his vision; but the money was not lost, as it aided in persuading the world he was a colonel and was afflicted with that genteel defect, an imperfect vision.