GENTILITY Synonyms: 136 Similar and Opposite Words

gentility

noun

jen-ˈti-lə-tē

Definition of gentility

as in manners

speech or behavior that is a sign of good breeding was full of the same gentility and grace that marked the rest of the family

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in nobility

the highest class in a society as members of the gentility, they felt an obligation to help the less fortunate

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of gentility But the glory and gentility that had been the Pontchartrain was gone. — Rick Bragg, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2026 In modernizing and Americanizing the Charles Dickens novel, Alfonso Cuarón expunged many of Great Expectations’s subplots in favor of a 1998-friendly romantic drama that cemented Paltrow as an emblem of gentility. — Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 25 Dec. 2025 Ferrara’s arrival in New York City and subsequent entry into the movie business is presented as something like a case of recidivism, a dive from suburban gentility into the cauldron of steaming garbage that was Fun City–era Manhattan. — Nick Pinkerton, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025 But this was close to the borderline of gentility. — Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for gentility

Recent Examples of Synonyms for gentility

Noun

An agent with read-only access is a search engine with better manners.

— Antony P Gregory, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Even as the identity of the South evolves, and more young people lose certain traits that are identifiably southern, manners remain one of the region’s most distinctive and steadfast qualities.

— Annie Joy Williams, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of manners

Noun

There’s a nobility in providing some fan service to help immerse Oasis devotees who could not afford the outrageous ticket prices to attend the tour.

— Marshall Shaffer, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
Working as a portraitist, she was commissioned by university scholars and local nobility in Bologna, the Italian city where she was born.

— Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of nobility

Noun

Throughout the financial troubles that the couple face given Fyodor’s inability to deliver pages, Szumowska and Englert feature scatological humor that further dissolves any notions of elegance associated with 19th-century Europe.

— Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
With Baggy Jeans Sometimes a baggy jean can veer into sloppy territory, but adding some Mary Janes gives a boost of elegance.

— Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of elegance

Noun

After this, there will be a lot of going back and forth across the Channel; crimes of the aristocracy; Darnay’s own Big Secret revealed; more trials, more imprisonments.

— Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Just a few days earlier at Palazzo Brancaccio, the ladies of the Roman aristocracy had vied to appear in the ballroom scenes, perhaps hoping to meet Gregory Peck.

— Daria Egidi, Vanity Fair, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of aristocracy

Noun

In World Cup lore, however, his gallantry is doomed to be overshadowed by that of his fellow-goalkeeper from Cabo Verde, Vozinha, who had already produced an uncanny impersonation of a brick wall on the fourth day of the tournament.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
In all of these cases, the effect is largely the same—forging intimacy through some level of generosity or gallantry, coupled with pure, physical proximity—and in 2026, all of them are still technically possible.

— Sara Delgado, Vogue, 9 July 2026

Definition of gallantry

Noun

Parker will play Mary Washington, George’s strong willed mother, while Rodgers will play Sally Cary, the charming beauty of the Virginia gentry who first sees his potential.

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 5 Sep. 2025
Grammer will play Lord Fairfax, the unofficial leader of the Virginia gentry who has a complicated relationship to young George Washington as both his crucial mentor and as the father of his romantic rival.

— Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025

Definition of gentry

Noun

The dynamic between the parents and the perpetrators steadily escalates from politeness to hostility to eventual torture, all while maintaining a frustrating attitude of inevitability and justification toward the former’s fate.

— Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Aug. 2026
She’s used to chief stews who yell and is thrown off by Aesha’s politeness.

— Emma Soren, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of politeness

Noun

The opening up to the friendship with Renata, the attentiveness with Luis, and not being set on killing Negan are monumental changes for her.

— Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Aug. 2026
Thanks to the controller’s attentiveness, a possible mid-air collision may have been prevented, especially if the pilots operating the individual planes thought the controller was giving them the same flight instructions.

— Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of attentiveness

Browse Nearby Words

gentilesse

gentility

gentle

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“Gentility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gentility. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of gentility

noun

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