Word.ws English Dictionary

genteel

/d͡ʒɛnˈtiːl/

genteel adjective: affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.

genteel: white ceramic teacup on white and pink floral ceramic saucer
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Adjective

genteel (comparative more genteel, superlative most genteel)

  1. Affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.
    • Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 407
  2. Polite and well-mannered.
    • Indeed I would advise every ſingle lady, if poſſible, to attend her inamorato, pretty frequently at the card table; and however genteel and agreeable his behaviour should be to herſelf, if he is haſty or pettiſh with any one else in company, she may depend on the ſame fate when once the knot is...1795, Joseph Addison, “An Essay on Card-playing”, in Interesting Anecdotes, Memoirs, Allegories, Essays, and Poetical Fragments; Tending to Amuse the Fancy, and Inculcate Morality, page 67
  3. Stylish or elegant.
  4. Aristocratic.

genteel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

genteel in Hindi

genteel, courteous
शिष्ट śiṣṭ

genteel in Tamil

பணிவான, மரியாதையான, நளினமான, உயர்குடிப் பண்புகளையுடைய

genteel in Urdu

لطیف, مہذب

genteel in Bengali

ভদ্র, মার্জিত, অভিজাতসুলভ
More languagesFewer languages
genteel in Malayalam
സദാചാരമായ, കുലീനമായ, ശ്രേഷ്ഠമായ, പരിഷ്കൃതമായ
genteel in Kannada
ಠೀವಿಯ, ಠೀಕಿನ, ಸೊಗಸಿನ

Examples of genteel in a sentence

  • "The time for genteel politics as usual has come to an end.
  • Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.
  • The Paphian mimp was a certain pucker of the lips considered needful for the highly genteel.

All 15 example sentences with genteel

Forms of genteel

comparativemore genteel
superlativemost genteel

Origin of genteel

Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gentīlis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), from gēns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -īlis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle, gentile, and jaunty. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.

Words formed from genteel

Questions about genteel

What does genteel mean?
Genteel means affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.
What is genteel in Hindi?
Genteel in Hindi is शिष्ट (śiṣṭ). See Genteel meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is genteel?
Genteel is an adjective.
How do you pronounce genteel?
Genteel is pronounced /d͡ʒɛnˈtiːl/.

Words near genteel in the dictionary

  1. genta
  2. gentamicin
  3. gentamicins
  4. gentamycin
  5. gentamycine
  6. genteel
  7. genteel business
  8. genteel lady
  9. genteeler
  10. genteelest
  11. genteelise

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: genteel (page history and authors); शिष्ट (Hindi) (page history and authors); genteel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); genteel (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Genteel (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); genteel (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); genteel (Kannada 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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