1
as in hospitable
showing a natural kindness and courtesy especially in social situations
a gracious host who goes out of his way to make every guest feel welcome
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in pleasant
having an easygoing and pleasing manner especially in social situations
a gracious innkeeper whose jokes and laughter made weary travelers feel right at home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in polite
showing consideration, courtesy, and good manners
he was a gracious man, habitually offering his seat on the bus to elderly women
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gracious
So be gentle and gracious with yourself and others.
—
Colin Bedell, Them., 21 Oct. 2025
As our gracious host Laura Brown welcomed me and outlined the evening ahead, guests began to arrive, each one exuding their own expression of luxury and cultural pride.
—Essence, 20 Oct. 2025
How selfish of Fred Warner, goodness gracious.
—Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 20 Oct. 2025
That was a constant refrain in the life of this gracious philanthropist from Roslindale.
—Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gracious
Colin Bedell, Them., 21 Oct. 2025
As our gracious host Laura Brown welcomed me and outlined the evening ahead, guests began to arrive, each one exuding their own expression of luxury and cultural pride.
—Essence, 20 Oct. 2025
How selfish of Fred Warner, goodness gracious.
—Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 20 Oct. 2025
That was a constant refrain in the life of this gracious philanthropist from Roslindale.
—Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gracious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gracious
Adjective
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Repair bare spots in the lawn to make your yard less hospitable for ground-nesting bees.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
5 Nov. 2025
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The public radio system was not especially hospitable to experimental work.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Friday will be a pleasant day with the high temperature near 60 degrees, however, temperatures will quickly dip in the evening after the sun sets, the forecast shows.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
31 Oct. 2025
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The 32-gram chocolate and vanilla were both pleasant, with no strange aftertaste or texture—just make sure to give them a really good shake before taking your first sip.—
Alaina Chou,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The listener is no longer an outsider from the polite world of public broadcasting, or podcasting, but a tired factory worker longing for relief.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
-
One that isn’t slurred together from such a familiar combination of backwater lawlessness, faux-polite menace, and profoundly sweaty animal metaphors.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In response, Delaware last March passed a law to make the state more alluring, to which Texas quickly counter-punched with an even friendlier law.—
Geoff Colvin,
Fortune,
7 Nov. 2025
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The other side of this has been the money in the industry’s pivot first to cheaper talk shows, which don’t innovate enough to merit much critique, and now to a second pivot to turn those interview shows into video series, which makes podcasts more friendly on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Ten-inch-tall elves, called Scout Elves, arrive in children's homes ahead of Christmas with a mission to relay children's behavior back to Santa Claus for his naughty and nice list.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
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To those earning $50,000 a year at their regular jobs, making $5,000 in a few nights of netting was a nice bonus.—
Steve Waters,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The guest experience is elevated by thoughtful details such as sunset happy hours and chocolate carts.—
Taylor McIntyre,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
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But some more thoughtful objections — see journalist Van Lathan’s October appearance on The Ringer podcast The Big Picture — take issue with the ways in which Perfidia is sexualized by two white men, DiCaprio and Sean Penn’s characters, the latter a neo-Nazi.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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He was thrown from the helicopter into a rainforest, became amnesiac, and was nursed back to health by some kindly locals?—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
24 Oct. 2025
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How can a kindly, God-fearing, and ascetic novice monk compete against that?—
Karl Ove Knausgaard,
New Yorker,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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For thousands of years, families in China have celebrated Qingming after the spring equinox, cleaning and decorating their ancestor’s graves and offering plates of sweet dumplings.—
Rocío Muñoz-Ledo,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
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Maybe Nat’s new life was also a work of art, in some strange, sweet, conceptual sense.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gracious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gracious. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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