as in courtesies
an act or utterance that is a customary show of good manners
after the usual civilities, the parents and the principal had a serious talk about the boy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for civilities
Noun
-
Small courtesies keep big efforts moving forward.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
15 Mar. 2026 -
With both courtesies and catastrophes refusing to conform, the canton’s school board, publishers, and clergy were forced to produce multiple editions of primers, textbooks, and catechisms; sometimes five parallel print runs were needed for a population the size of a town.—
Simon Akam,
New Yorker,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
With these gestures, Kokopeli pointed to technological manipulation, appropriation, and seriality as stock techniques drawn from the repertoire of contemporary art in the interest of efficient production.—
Theo Belci,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
-
Pointing out the cycle of addiction while making vague gestures toward the systems that support widespread Fentanyl use doesn’t mean the surrounding story has a point of its own.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
1 June 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Civilities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civilities. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
