Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use genteel in a sentence

15 example sentences · adjective

Genteel means affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite. Example: “Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.”

Examples of genteel by meaning

adjectiveAffectedly 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

More sentences with genteel

  • "The time for genteel politics as usual has come to an end.2022 May 20, Eric Ting, “Kevin McCarthy tries to be nice to Madison Cawthorn. Cawthorn attacks anyway.”, in SFGATE. From the entry Dark MAGA
  • The Paphian mimp was a certain pucker of the lips considered needful for the highly genteel.1948, Gil Meynier, Stranger at the Door, page 12. From the entry mimp
  • Sometimes a rumbunctious, chaffing persona emerged and was a little over the top for genteel spinsters to tolerate.2015, Molly Whittington-Egan, “Preface: Into the Cabinet”, in Mrs Guppy Takes a Flight: A Scandal of Victorian Spiritualism, [Castle…. From the entry rambunctious
  • Rooms in the main house and renovated barn feel genteel and romantic, while the cottages are bright and honeymoony.2013, Fodor's Northern California 2014. From the entry honeymoony
  • Penny whist, the game of shabby genteel dowagers and doddards.1984, Elizabeth Hewitt, Captain Black, New York, N.Y.: Signet, New American Library, →ISBN, page 57. From the entry doddard
  • And the prospect of genteel notoriety for their unborn heirs is the source of the Mob's drive for WASPization.1971, Chicago Journalism Review, volume 4, page 14. From the entry WASPization
  • Indeed, so inviolate was the cult of genteel amateurishness, that professional topics, or “shop”, were Draconically tabooed in conversation off parade.1942, Esmé Wingfield-Stratford, “The Soldier”, in Churchill: The Making of a Hero, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, →OCLC, section 1, page 35. From the entry draconically
  • Over the past few years, the museum has quietly begun deaccessioning—the genteel art-world euphemism for “getting rid of”—large numbers of its city artifacts.2010 June, John Freeman Gill, “Ghosts of New York”, in The Atlantic. From the entry deaccession
  • Even though she was just a Christmas drinker, a birthday drinker, a genteel port-and-lemonade drinker, she gave up alcohol altogether after the accident.1991, Robert Drewe, The Bay of Contented Men. From the entry Christmas drinker
  • In the hands of a skillful writer, the South's colorful cast of genteel aristocrats, coquettish belles, devoted mammies, and rumptious hill folk could be enchanting.1988, Daniel E. Sutherland, The Confederate Carpetbaggers, Baton Rouge, L.A.; London: Louisiana State University Press, →ISBN, page 259. From the entry rumptious
  • From the pale refinement of her genteel heroine to the sallow complexioning of poor white trash, Stowe colors her narrative with the hues of the body.2003, Leland Krauth, Mark Twain & Company: Six Literary Relations, page 118. From the entry complexion
  • Home to hundreds of Dartmouth College employees, professors, and students, as well as a number of eighth-generation Norwichers, the town has a countrified, genteel air about it.2000, Lisa Rogak, Barbara Radcliffe Rogers, Vermont Off the Beaten Path: A Guide to Unique Places, page 96. From the entry Norwicher
  • Years ago, on Victoria's Port Phillip Bay, the recognised bait for garfish were `gentles', a genteel word for maggots, which were especially grown for gar fishermen.1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 67. From the entry gentle
  • He wore a neat dark overcoat, brown shoes, and a bowler hat rather on one side; his appearance was, in fact, genteel, though his air was a trifle raffish.1919, Anthony Hope, chapter VII, in The Secret of the Tower. From the entry raffish

Meaning of genteel

  1. adjective Affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.
  2. adjective Polite and well-mannered.
  3. adjective Stylish or elegant.

Full definition of genteel

Questions about genteel in a sentence

How do you use genteel in a sentence?
Genteel is used as an adjective. For example: “Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.”
What is a short sentence with genteel?
“Penny whist, the game of shabby genteel dowagers and doddards.”
What does genteel mean?
Genteel means affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: genteel (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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