Genteel
[dʒen'tiːl] or [dʒɛn'til]
Definition
(a.) 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.
(a.) Graceful in mien or form; elegant in appearance, dress, or manner; as, the lady has a genteel person. Law.
(a.) Suited to the position of lady or a gentleman; as, to live in a genteel allowance.
Checked by Lionel
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Refined, polite, courteous, polished, civil, well-bred, gentlemanly or lady-like.[2]. Fashionable, stylish, elegant (in dress, style of living, &c.).
Editor: Margie
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Polite, well-bred, refined, courteous, fashionable, elegant, aristocratic,polished, graceful
ANT:Rude, boorish, ill-bred, clownish, unfashionable, unpolished, inelegant,plebeian
Typed by Andy
Definition
adj. well-bred: graceful in manners or in form: fashionable.—adj. Genteel′ish somewhat genteel.—adv. Genteel′ly.—n. Genteel′ness (same as Gentility).—The genteel the manners and usages of genteel or well-bred society.
Typed by Elbert
Unserious Contents or Definition
adj. Refined after the fashion of a gent.
Checker: Olga
Examples
- It occurred to me several times that we should have got on better, if we had not been quite so genteel. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- It proved to be a well-known and respected widow of the neighbourhood, of a standing which can only be expressed by the word genteel. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- To be sure, said Harriet, in a mortified voice, he is not so genteel as real gentlemen. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Or taken to the Church as more genteel? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Was answering an advertisement about typewriting and came to the wrong number--very pleasant, genteel young woman, sir. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- You might put ME into a Jail, with genteel society and a rubber, and I should never care to come out. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I--in short,' said Mr. Micawber, with the same genteel air, and in another burst of confidence--'I live there. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- It was the host's profound misfortune to have been overcome by that too genteel lady. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- At which time Miss Summerson's conduct was highly genteel; I may even add, magnanimous. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- It had a genteel appearance, and a well-dressed, gentlemanly man sat on the seat, with a colored servant driving. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- It is NOT a genteel calling, said Mrs. Blinder, and most people do object to it. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- That makes no noise, and is quite as certain, and more genteel. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- We were so exceedingly genteel, that our scope was very limited. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I assure you they are very genteel people. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- She regards a ghost as one of the privileges of the upper classes, a genteel distinction to which the common people have no claim. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- After some consideration, he went into business as an informer, in which calling he realises a genteel subsistence. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- When she had gone through her rigid preliminaries, amounting to a sort of genteel platoon-exercise, she withdrew. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- It was a very genteel entertainment, very handsomely served. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- A little walnut bark has made my yellow skin a genteel brown, and I've dyed my hair black; so you see I don't answer to the advertisement at all. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- No, Miss Jane, not exactly: you are genteel enough; you look like a lady, and it is as much as ever I expected of you: you were no beauty as a child. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- We might have treated this subject in the genteel, or in the romantic, or in the facetious manner. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I cannot afford to buy a bonnet; that would be only half-and-half, a mere vulgar, shabby-genteel, cockney kind of a maid-servant! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Service, however (with a few limited reservations, genteel but not profitable), they may not do, being of the Dedlock dignity. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Look at this family--my family--a family more genteel than any lady. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Ralph was ingenuous, genteel in his manners, and extremely eloquent; I think I never knew a prettier talker. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- I will hear no more of the very genteel lady; I will hear no more of you. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- The very genteel lady-- 'Silence! Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- A genteel foraging party besieged Shirley in her castle, and compelled her to surrender at discretion. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Well, it is near the Church, and a genteel situation. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- But why should you think, said Lucy, looking ashamed of her sister, that there are not as many genteel young men in Devonshire as Sussex? Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
Checker: Olga