deferential
UK[ˌdɛfəˈɹɛnʃəɫ]
deferential adjective: respectful and considerate; showing deference.
Adjective (1)
deferential (comparative more deferential, superlative most deferential)
- Respectful and considerate; showing deference.
- In A v. UK, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that Part 4 of the 2001 Act was not a strictly necessary response to the acknowledged emergency evidenced by the attacks in the USA and that the detention of the applicants was in breach of Article 5. This conclusion is...2009, Mark Elliott, “Torture, Deportation and Extra-Judicial Detention: Instruments of the “War on Terror””, in Cambridge Law Journal, volume 68, number 2, pages 245–246
- The oscillations were getting so severe that painters on the bridge learned to tie down their tins before a train passed. They found holes and rents in the iron but never reported them as they were never asked, and it wasn't their job. These were deferential times, and few wanted to talk out of...2020 September 23, Paul Bigland, “The tragic tale of the Tay Bridge disaster”, in Rail, page 81
- Antonyms:
- derogative, derogatory
- Based on deference; based on the doctrine, ideology, or wishes of others rather than one's own conclusions.
Adjective (2)
deferential (not comparable)
- Of or relating to the vas deferens.
deferential meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
deferential in Tamil
- அடங்கி வழிபடும், பணிந்து இணங்கும்
deferential in Urdu
- مودبانہ, تعظیمی
deferential in Bengali
- অন্যের প্রতি অত্যন্ত বিনয়ী, নম্র, শ্রদ্ধাশীল
deferential in Malayalam
- ആദരവുളള, വിനയപൂർവ്വകമായ, വണങ്ങുന്ന, സാദരവായ, വിനയപൂർവ്വമായ
Examples of deferential in a sentence
- This conclusion is noteworthy given that the European Court has in the past adopted a deferential if not supine approach when assessing the legality of derogations under Article 15.2009, Mark Elliott, “Torture, Deportation and Extra-Judicial Detention: Instruments of the “War on Terror””, in Cambridge Law Journal...
- These were deferential times, and few wanted to talk out of turn.2020 September 23, Paul Bigland, “The tragic tale of the Tay Bridge disaster”, in Rail, page 81:
Antonyms of deferential
Forms of deferential
| comparative | more deferential |
|---|---|
| superlative | most deferential |
Origin of deferential
From deference (or its Latin type *dēferentia) + -al; compare essence, essential; prudence, prudential, etc. Coined by Scottish novelist, poet and playwright Walter Scott.
From French déférentiel, from déférent + -iel.
Words formed from deferential
Questions about deferential
- What does deferential mean?
- Deferential means respectful and considerate; showing deference.
- What is deferential in Tamil?
- Deferential in Tamil is அடங்கி வழிபடும், பணிந்து இணங்கும். See Deferential meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use deferential in a sentence?
- This conclusion is noteworthy given that the European Court has in the past adopted a deferential if not supine approach when assessing the legality of derogations under Article 15.
- What part of speech is deferential?
- Deferential is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce deferential?
- Deferential is pronounced [ˌdɛfəˈɹɛnʃəɫ] (UK).
Words near deferential in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: deferential (page history and authors); deferential (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); deferential (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); deferential (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); deferential (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-deferential.ogg.
Cite this entry: “deferential.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/deferential. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.