politeness
Syllables: po·lite·ness/pəˈlaɪtnəs/
politeness noun: the quality of being polite.
Noun
politeness (usually uncountable, plural politenesses)
- The quality of being polite.
- At school, where politeness is not one of the compulsory subjects, I was "Pup", "Puggy", "Ki-ki", "Balcombe Beauty", "Snarleywow", and other shafts of endearment. I was not petted.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries
- Synonyms:
- civility, courtesy, courtliness, etiquette, grace
- A polite act.
- These politenesses left Miss Marley floundering for initiative, holding Jasper and being solemnly inspected by Podson, who clearly depended on her the convention of an afternoon call.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 145
politeness meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
politeness in Hindi
- act of being polite
- शिष्टता śiṣṭatā, अदब adab, नज़ाकत nazākat, सभ्यता sabhyatā
politeness in Tamil
- நன்ன்டத்தை, மரியாதை, மென்மை
politeness in Urdu
- act of being polite
- ادب adab, نزاکت nazākat
politeness in Bengali
- ভদ্রতা
More languagesFewer languages
- politeness in Telugu
- సభ్యత sabhyata
- politeness in Malayalam
- വിനയം vinayaṁ, മര്യാദ maryāda, ഓശാരം ōśāraṁ, ഉപചാരം upacāraṁ
- politeness in Kannada
- ಎರಕ, ನಯ
- politeness in Punjabi
- ਅਦਬ adab
- politeness in Odia
- ସଭ୍ୟତା sabhyatā
- politeness in Arabic
- أَدَب ʔadab
- politeness in Persian
- ادب adab, نزاکت nezâkat
- politeness in Thai
- ความสุภาพ kwaam-sù-pâap
- politeness in Vietnamese
- sự lịch sự
- politeness in Myanmar
- ယဉ်ကျေးမှု yanykye:hmu.
Examples of politeness in a sentence
- Do you have it in you to show any respect, politeness, patience, or, God forbid, an ounce of forbearance?
- The phenomenon of self-denigration is a typical example of politeness in Chinese culture.
- Do: Be sure to say please and thank you; Canadians are known for their politeness.
Synonyms of politeness
Antonyms
Forms of politeness
| plural | politenesses |
|---|
Origin of politeness
From polite + -ness.
Words formed from politeness
Questions about politeness
- What does politeness mean?
- Politeness means the quality of being polite.
- What is politeness in Hindi?
- Politeness in Hindi is शिष्टता (śiṣṭatā), अदब (adab), नज़ाकत (nazākat). See Politeness meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is politeness?
- Politeness is a noun.
- How do you pronounce politeness?
- Politeness is pronounced /pəˈlaɪtnəs/.
- What is the plural of politeness?
- The plural of politeness is politenesses.
Words near politeness in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: politeness (page history and authors); politeness (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); politeness (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ഉപചാരം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); politeness (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਅਦਬ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ସଭ୍ୟତା (Odia) (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-politeness.ogg.
Cite this entry: “politeness.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/politeness. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.