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Definition of urbane
: notably polite or polished in manner
urbanely
adverbFrom the M-W Editors
urbane was our Word of the Day on 05/10/2016. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of urbane in a Sentence
The dialogue is witty and urbane.
a gentlemanly and urbane host of elegant dinner parties
Recent Examples of urbane from the Web
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Closer to the financial center (just a 10-minute walk from Deutsche Bank HQ), the Sofitel Frankfurt Opera opened last October with urbane suites and an indoor pool.
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David Korins’s set features an upward-curving floor that cleverly doubles as a surface for a generous dose of projections of Mr. Feiffer’s whimsically simple yet urbane drawings.
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The key to living large: rigorous editing and a richly urbane gray palette.
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One man starts in an Urkel costume, then quickly changes into something more urbane.
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Greens are less frequent; zealously urbane, Stettheimer wasn’t much for nature, except, surreally, for the glories of the outsized cut flowers that barge in on her indoor scenes.
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The design is crisp and urbane, to the extent that those words can apply to a place with the head of a Texas longhorn mounted on the wall.
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Fifty years ago, George Lincoln Rockwell, the urbane leader of the American Nazi Party, was shot dead in the parking lot of a laundromat, just seven miles from where Spencer lives now.
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While most of Iran is fixated on the presidential vote, Yalda’s candidacy has won attention from the capital’s urbane, educated set.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'urbane.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
When Should You Use urbane?
City slickers and country folk have long debated whether life is better in town or in the wide open spaces, and urbane is a term that springs from the throes of that debate. The word traces back to Latin urbs, meaning "city," and in its earliest English uses urbane was synonymous with its close relative urban ("of, relating to, characteristic of, or constituting a city"). Urbane developed its modern sense of savoir faire from the belief (no doubt fostered by city dwellers) that living in the city made one more suave and polished than did leading a rural life.
Origin and Etymology of urbane
Latin urbanus urban, urbane
Synonym Discussion of urbane
URBANE Defined for English Language Learners
urbane
playDefinition of urbane for English Language Learners
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: polite and confident
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: fashionable and somewhat formal
Learn More about urbane
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for urbane Spanish Central: Translation of urbane Nglish: Translation of urbane for Spanish speakers
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