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politely

 - 3 dictionary results

po⋅lite

[puh-lahyt]
–adjective, -lit⋅er, -lit⋅est.
1. showing good manners toward others, as in behavior, speech, etc.; courteous; civil: a polite reply.
2. refined or cultured: polite society.
3. of a refined or elegant kind: polite learning.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME < L polītus, ptp. of polīre to polish


po⋅lite⋅ly, adverb
po⋅lite⋅ness, noun


1. well-bred, gracious. See civil. 2. urbane, polished, poised, courtly, cultivated.


1, 2. rude.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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po·lite   (pə-līt')   
adj.   po·lit·er, po·lit·est
  1. Marked by or showing consideration for others, tact, and observance of accepted social usage.

  2. Refined; elegant: polite society.


[Middle English polit, polished, from Latin polītus, past participle of polīre, to polish; see polish.]
po·lite'ly adv., po·lite'ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean mindful of, conforming to, or marked by good manners. Polite and mannerly imply consideration for others and the adherence to conventional social standards of good behavior: "It costs nothing to be polite" (Winston S. Churchill). The child was scolded by his grandmother for not being more mannerly.
Civil suggests only the barest observance of accepted social usages; it often means merely neither polite nor rude: If you can't be friendly, at least be civil.
Courteous implies courtliness and dignity: "If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world" (Francis Bacon).
Genteel, which originally meant well-bred, now usually suggests excessive and affected refinement: "A man, indeed, is not genteel when he gets drunk" (James Boswell).
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

polite 
1263, from L. politus "refined, elegant," lit. "polished," pp. of polire "to polish, to make smooth." Used literally at first in Eng.; sense of "elegant, cultured" is first recorded 1501, that of "behaving courteously" is 1762.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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