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genteel
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5 dictionary results for: Genteel
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
gen·teel       [jen-teel] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.belonging or suited to polite society.
2.well-bred or refined; polite; elegant; stylish.
3.affectedly or pretentiously polite, delicate, etc.
[Origin: 1590–1600; < F gentil; see gentle]

—Related forms
gen·teel·ly, adverb
gen·teel·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
gen·teel       (jěn-tēl')  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Refined in manner; well-bred and polite.
  2. Free from vulgarity or rudeness.
  3. Elegantly stylish: genteel manners and appearance.
    1. Striving to convey a manner or appearance of refinement and respectability. See Synonyms at polite.
    2. Marked by affected and somewhat prudish refinement.


[French gentil, from Old French; see gentle.]

gen·teel'ly adv., gen·teel'ness n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
genteel 
1599, from M.Fr. gentil "nice, graceful, pleasing," from O.Fr. "high-born, noble;" a reborrowing of the word that had early come into Eng. as gentle (q.v.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
genteel

adjective
marked by refinement in taste and manners; "cultivated speech"; "cultured Bostonians"; "cultured tastes"; "a genteel old lady"; "polite society" [syn: civilized] 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Genteel

Gen*teel"\, a. [F. gentil noble, pretty, graceful. See Gentle.]

1. Possessing or exhibiting the qualities popularly regarded as belonging to high birth and breeding; free from vulgarity, or lowness of taste or behavior; adapted to a refined or cultivated taste; polite; well-bred; as, genteel company, manners, address.

2. Graceful in mien or form; elegant in appearance, dress, or manner; as, the lady has a genteel person. Law.

3. Suited to the position of lady or a gentleman; as, to live in a genteel allowance.

Syn: Polite; well-bred; refined; polished.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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