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
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for civilities
Noun
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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
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Yet such gestures failed to meet the scale of the problem.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
11 May 2026
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Take Vacheron’s spectacular La Quête du Temps clock, featuring an automaton astronomer performing 144 distinct gestures orchestrated through 158 cams and a mechanical memory system linked to the clock.—
Victoria Gomelsky,
Robb Report,
11 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Civilities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civilities. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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