Synonyms of genteel

genteel

adjective

jen-ˈtēl 

1

as in polite

following the established traditions of refined society and good taste

those bygone days when young women were taught how to drink tea while wearing long gloves and other genteel ways of behaving

Synonyms & Similar Words

• polite
• proper
• respectable
• decorous
• satisfactory
• acceptable
• nice
• formal
• correct
• elegant
• decent
• befitting
• adequate
• seemly
• dress
• gracious
• dignified
• tolerable
• congenial
• prim
• relevant
• de rigueur
• stuffy
• dressy
• apt
• priggish
• permitted
• harmonious
• kosher
• compatible
• stiff
• authorized
• allowed
• material

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• improper
• inappropriate
• unseemly
• indecent
• unbecoming
• informal
• casual
• indelicate
• unsatisfactory
• intolerable
• unacceptable
• incorrect
• indecorous
• shabby
• seedy
• tacky
• barred
• ungenteel
• forbidden
• grungy
• prohibited
• awkward
• disallowed
• gauche
• proscribed
• ungraceful
• outlawed
• banned
• interdicted

2

as in civilized

having or showing a taste for the fine arts and gracious living

she grew up in genteel old Savannah

Synonyms & Similar Words

• civilized
• cultured
• polished
• polite
• cultivated
• accomplished
• civil
• educated
• scholarly
• refined
• sophisticated
• couth
• literate
• cosmopolitan
• cerebral
• highbrow
• intellectual
• well-bred
• urbane
• erudite
• mannerly
• courteous
• high-toned
• knowledgeable
• intellectualistic
• intellectualist
• learned
• well-read
• highbrowed
• hypercivilized
• oversophisticated
• overcivilized

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• barbaric
• barbarous
• uncivilized
• ignorant
• uncultured
• unrefined
• unpolished
• uneducated
• illiterate
• unlettered
• coarse
• unintelligent
• lowbrow
• provincial
• rustic
• ungenteel
• philistine
• unsophisticated
• backwoods
• uncouth
• crude
• vulgar
• boorish
• inelegant
• ill-mannered
• clownish
• ill-bred
• churlish
• polyester
• cloddish

3

as in aristocratic

of high birth, rank, or station

the genteel ladies never mixed with the servants

prohibited by reason of her genteel birth from marrying the man she loved

Synonyms & Similar Words

• aristocratic
• noble
• upper-crust
• upper-class
• patrician
• gentle
• highborn
• great
• grand
• highbred
• blue-blooded
• silk-stocking
• royal
• wellborn
• gentlemanly
• superior
• regal
• ladylike
• exalted
• high
• lofty
• princely
• queenly
• knightly
• lordly
• senior
• high-level
• kingly
• elevated
• ennobled

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• common
• humble
• lower-class
• plebeian
• low
• ignoble
• lowly
• mean
• inferior
• ordinary
• plain
• bastard
• ungenteel
• nonaristocratic
• illegitimate
• knavish
• baseborn
• degraded
• junior
• subordinate
• abased

4

as in gracious

showing consideration, courtesy, and good manners

his genteel gesture of holding the door for the ladies

Synonyms & Similar Words

• polite
• gracious
• civil
• thoughtful
• nice
• careful
• respectful
• pleasant
• courteous
• civilized
• respectable
• graceful
• well-bred
• friendly
• gallant
• mannerly
• elegant
• gentlemanly
• good
• courtly
• humble
• appropriate
• ceremonial
• ladylike
• urbane
• chivalrous
• ceremonious
• solicitous
• acceptable
• attentive
• meek
• formal
• smooth
• decorous
• suitable
• decent
• considerate
• suave
• hospitable
• deferential
• proper
• gentlemanlike
• unctuous
• dutiful
• correct
• genial
• refined
• fitting
• cordial
• modest
• affable
• submissive
• couth
• sociable
• becoming
• red-carpet
• meet
• felicitous
• right
• yielding
• fit
• befitting
• seemly
• demure
• unassertive
• comme il faut

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• thoughtless
• rude
• uncivil
• ungracious
• unmannerly
• impolite
• discourteous
• thoughtless
• inconsiderate
• insolent
• heedless
• impudent
• uncouth
• impertinent
• vulgar
• brash
• inconsiderate
• disrespectful
• bold
• informal
• saucy
• unmannered
• boorish
• brassy
• casual
• shameless
• audacious
• ill-mannered
• ill-bred
• clownish
• loutish
• churlish
• ungenteel
• mannerless
• improper
• inappropriate
• unseemly
• indecent
• indecorous
• unceremonious
• arrogant
• pretentious
• incorrect
• lippy
• bold-faced
• presumptuous
• uncalled-for
• conceited
• clodhopping
• unrespectable
• presuming

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of genteel

Ciba’s account of Williams’s posthumous management shows how erasure can operate through genteel forms. — Literary Hub, 26 June 2026

The genteel record producer did not look the part of a revolutionary. — David Kamp, Air Mail, 13 June 2026

Some feel the program has become too genteel and needs more of the on-screen dramatics of former correspondent Mike Wallace. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 1 June 2026

Schlather’s approach is the opposite of the genteel Spoleto staging, which invoked the opulent sets and costumes of the Met’s designer, Cecil Beaton, on a smaller stage. — Russell Platt, New Yorker, 20 May 2026

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!