Word of the Day

: November 25, 2016

genteel

adjective jen-TEEL

What It Means

1 a : of or relating to the gentry or upper class

b : elegant or graceful in manner, appearance, or shape

c : free from vulgarity or rudeness : polite

2 : marked by false delicacy, prudery, or affectation

genteel in Context

"The Hamptons, once so genteel, with their sepulchral light and estates hidden behind neatly groomed hedges, have managed to become a nexus of social life, … where openings and charity galas and club nights fill the summer calendar." — Marisa Meltzer, Town & Country, 1 Aug. 2016

"At this preternaturally elegant new French restaurant …, the waitstaff keeps things lively with cheeky repartee. On arrival one late-summer evening, a man, having located his party, said to the host, 'I'm with them,' and was met with a genteel retort: 'As you should be.'" — Shauna Lyon, The New Yorker, 26 Sept. 2016

Did You Know?

In Roman times, the Latin noun gens was used to refer to a clan, a group of related people. Its plural gentes was used to designate all the people of the world, particularly non-Romans. An adjective form, gentilis, applied to both senses. Over time, the adjective was borrowed and passed through several languages. It came into Old French as gentil, a word that then meant "high-born" (in modern French it means "nice"); that term was carried over into Anglo-French, where English speakers found and borrowed it in the early 17th century.