urbanity

Noun

urbanity (countable and uncountable, plural urbanities)

1. Behaviour that is polished, refined, courteous.
   • The vaunted courtesy of the old school, the smooth urbanity that prevailed in former days [...]1825, Washington Irving, “Paris at the Restoration”, in The Crayon Papers
   • He only stayed a few days in London, to take the oaths and his seat in the House of Lords, a ceremony that was to take place on the morrow, and he held himself much indebted to the circumstance of spending his first evening at Lady Anne's, because the marquis of Wentworthdale had, with the utmost...1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC...

   Synonyms:

   urbaneness

2. Urbanness.
   • [...], the majority of cases will differ as to "urbanity", as most of the evacuees were rural.1955, C.J. Lammers, Studies in Holland Flood Disaster 1953, volume 2, page 39
   • Evacuees, the majority of whom were rural persons, reported more tensions as the urbanity of the reception community increased1956, Fred C. Iklé, Harry V. Kincaid, “Social Aspects of Wartime Evacuation of American Cities”, in Disaster Study, volume 4, page 44

   Antonyms:

   rurality