politesse

po·li·tesse

noun \ˌpä-li-ˈtes, ˌpȯ-\

Definition of POLITESSE

: formal politeness : decorousness

Origin of POLITESSE

French, from Middle French, cleanness, from Old Italian pulitezza, from pulito, past participle of pulire to polish, clean, from Latin polire

First Known Use: 1713

Rhymes with POLITESSE

ABS, acquiesce, baroness, bitter cress, CBS, coalesce, convalesce, crown princess, DES, decompress, deliquesce, derepress, dispossess, due process, effervesce, effloresce, evanesce, full-court press, gentilesse, granny dress, in-process, inverness, Inverness, less and less, letterpress, luminesce, Lyonnesse, minidress, more or less, nonetheless, obsolesce, otherguess, overdress, pennycress, phosphoresce, prepossess, preprocess, recrudesce, repossess, reprocess, retrogress, second-guess, SOS, sweaterdress, underdress, watercress, window-dress, word process