mannered

adjective

man·​nered ˈma-nərd 

1

: having manners of a specified kind

well-mannered

2

a

: having or displaying a particular manner

b

: having an artificial or stilted character

… passages are so mannered as to be unintelligible …

—R. G. G. Price

Examples of mannered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even the mild-mannered Waterboy is upset, knocking over cups in the kitchen in his own weak way — that is, until emotion gets the best of him, leading to the lanky hero hurling a chair through the vending machine. —Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2025

While mild-mannered, Vince Staples is a trickster at his core. —Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025

Tensions flared between the parties as the otherwise mild-mannered Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) traded barbs with Democrats. —Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 7 Nov. 2025

The filmmaker instead evokes his earlier work—namely Dogtooth and The Killing of a Sacred Deer—combining the mannered, hermetic bleakness of those tales with the befuddled existentialism of a Samuel Beckett play. —Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing mannered

• ill-mannered
• mild-mannered
• well-mannered

Kids Definition

mannered

adjective

man·​nered ˈman-ərd 

: having manners of a specified kind

well-mannered

mild-mannered