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genteel

 - 3 dictionary results

gen⋅teel

  [jen-teel]
–adjective
1. belonging or suited to polite society.
2. well-bred or refined; polite; elegant; stylish.
3. affectedly or pretentiously polite, delicate, etc.
Use genteel in a Sentence
Origin:
1590–1600; < F gentil; see gentle

Related forms:
gen⋅teel⋅ly, adverb
gen⋅teel⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To genteel
gen·teel   (jěn-tēl')   
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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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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