Antonyms for genteel
| Grammar : Adj |
| Spell : jen-teel |
| Phonetic Transcription : dʒɛnˈtil |
Definition of genteel
Origin :- 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).
- adj sophisticated, cultured
- Their conversation, though no doubt as genteel as before, was all of broken hearts.
- Extract from : « Quaint Courtships » by Various
- He chose the most genteel, however; he became a wine merchant.
- Extract from : « Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10) » by Maria Edgeworth
- It was the host's profound misfortune to have been overcome by that too genteel lady.
- Extract from : « Little Dorrit » by Charles Dickens
- Every one seemed to think it wouldn't be genteel to eat after the disaster.
- Extract from : « One Of Them » by Charles James Lever
- There are many boys of genteel family, who would have been glad of the chance.
- Extract from : « Paul Prescott's Charge » by Horatio Alger
- Would he, in his genteel garb, be recognised by some agent of the Sûreté as “The American”?
- Extract from : « The White Lie » by William Le Queux
- The latter has not a handsome face, but is a genteel person.
- Extract from : « Journal of a Young Lady of Virginia, 1782 » by Lucinda Lee Orr
- I doubt if any one who has not lived in Philadelphia can imagine how genteel it is.
- Extract from : « Pipefuls » by Christopher Morley
- Within an hour Mike had become a perfect hero in that genteel circle.
- Extract from : « A Hungarian Nabob » by Maurus Jkai
- He was elegant and genteel, at any rate, that everybody would be bound to allow.
- Extract from : « A Hungarian Nabob » by Maurus Jkai
Synonyms for genteel
- affected
- aristocratic
- artificial
- chivalrous
- civil
- confined
- courteous
- courtly
- cultivated
- distingué
- elegant
- fashionable
- formal
- graceful
- hollow
- intolerant
- la-di-da
- mannerly
- noble
- ostentatious
- polished
- polite
- pompous
- precious
- pretentious
- priggish
- prim
- prissy
- prudish
- refined
- respectable
- straitlaced
- stuffy
- stylish
- urbane
- well-behaved
- well-bred
- well-mannered
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019