genteelly








adjective

  1. belonging or suited to polite society.
  2. well-bred or refined; polite; elegant; stylish.
  3. affectedly or pretentiously polite, delicate, etc.

adjective

  1. affectedly proper or refined; excessively polite
  2. respectable, polite, and well-breda genteel old lady
  3. appropriate to polite or fashionable societygenteel behaviour
adj.

1590s, from Middle French gentil “stylish, fashionable, elegant; nice, graceful, pleasing,” from Old French gentil “high-born, noble” (11c.); a reborrowing of the French word that had early come into English as gentle (q.v.), with French pronunciation and stress preserved to emphasize the distinction. Cf. also jaunty; gentile. OED 2nd ed. reports genteel “is now used, except by the ignorant, only in mockery” (a development it dates from the 1840s).

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