Gentle
['dʒent(ə)l] or ['dʒɛntl]
Definition
(verb.) stroke soothingly.
(adj.) having or showing a kindly or tender nature; 'the gentle touch of her hand'; 'her gentle manner was comforting'; 'a gentle sensitive nature'; 'gentle blue eyes' .
(adj.) quiet and soothing; 'a gentle voice'; 'a gentle nocturne' .
(adj.) soft and mild; not harsh or stern or severe; 'a gentle reprimand'; 'a vein of gentle irony'; 'poked gentle fun at him' .
Typist: Ollie--From WordNet
Definition
(superl.) Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.
(superl.) Quiet and refined in manners; not rough, harsh, or stern; mild; meek; bland; amiable; tender; as, a gentle nature, temper, or disposition; a gentle manner; a gentle address; a gentle voice.
(superl.) A compellative of respect, consideration, or conciliation; as, gentle reader.
(superl.) Not wild, turbulent, or refractory; quiet and docile; tame; peaceable; as, a gentle horse.
(superl.) Soft; not violent or rough; not strong, loud, or disturbing; easy; soothing; pacific; as, a gentle touch; a gentle gallop .
(n.) One well born; a gentleman.
(n.) A trained falcon. See Falcon-gentil.
(n.) A dipterous larva used as fish bait.
(v. t.) To make genteel; to raise from the vulgar; to ennoble.
(v. t.) To make smooth, cozy, or agreeable.
(v. t.) To make kind and docile, as a horse.
Typed by Gilda
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Mild, bland, moderate, clement, lenient, merciful, kind, tender, compassionate, indulgent, meek, soft, humane, of a sweet disposition, not rough, not harsh.[2]. Tame, docile, peaceable, quiet, tractable, pacific, dove-like, not wild, not refractory.
Typed by Emile
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Courteous, polite, highbred, mild, bland, tame, docile, amiable, meek, soft,placid, tender
ANT:Rough, rude, coarse, fierce, savage
Inputed by Inez
Definition
adj. well-born: mild and refined in manners: mild in disposition: amiable: soothing: moderate: gradual.—v.t. (Shak.) to make gentle.—n. (obs.) a person of good family: (Shak.) a trained falcon: the larva of the flesh-fly used as a bait in angling.—n. Gentilesse′ the quality of being gentle courtesy.—v.t. Gen′tilise to raise to the class of gentleman.—n. Gentil′ity good birth or extraction: good breeding: politeness of manners: genteel people: marks of gentility.—n.pl. Gen′tlefolk people of good family.—adj. Gen′tle-heart′ed having a gentle or kind disposition.—n. Gen′tlehood position or character attaching to gentle birth.—n. Gen′tleness.—adv. Gent′ly.—n. Gen′trice gentle birth courtesy.—Gentle reader courteous reader an old-fashioned phrase common in the prefaces of books.—The gentle craft a phrase used to specify shoe-making also angling; The gentle (or gentler) sex women in general as opposed to the stern or sterner sex.
Checked by Irving
Examples
- She had been all sweetness and kindness, always thankful, always gentle, even when Mrs. Clapp lost her own temper and pressed for the rent. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- The human watchdogs must be philosophers or lovers of learning which will make them gentle. Plato. The Republic.
- Which of them had a step so quiet, a hand so gentle, but I should have heard or felt her, if she had approached or touched me in a day-sleep? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- No, indeed, sir,' returned Mrs. Sparsit, with a gentle melancholy upon her. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- There was a fine gentle wind, and Mr. Pickwick's hat rolled sportively before it. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Her voice faltered and her hand trembled, and it was only the cold question of Ivanhoe, Is it you, gentle maiden? Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Maria could not keep still and she walked around patting and gentling the horses and making them all more nervous and agitated. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Every vestige of the gentler thoughts which had filled her mind hardly a minute since seemed to be swept from it now. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I am going, she said again, in a gentler voice, to be married to him. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- It is impossible to be gentler, Herbert. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- When I wander, her gentler spirit ever restores me, and keeps before my eyes the Christian calling and mission of our race. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Nothing in her cherished affection in me, made me better, gentler; she only stirred my brain and whetted my acuteness. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It lay there, warming into life a crowd of gentler thoughts; and she rested. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- He greeted me cordially; and told me I should certainly be happy under Doctor Strong, who was one of the gentlest of men. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The storm cannot bend the oak, but the gentlest breeze will make its branches quiver. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The gentlest summer breezes and the fiercest blasts of winter are produced by the unequal heating of air. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Charley seasoned his admiration with criticism of the gentlest kind, for the touch of Eustacia's hand yet remained with him. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The gentlest women are not such fools as to show EVERY card. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Now Aunt March possessed in perfection the art of rousing the spirit of opposition in the gentlest people, and enjoyed doing it. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
Inputed by Addie