Genteel — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

Genteel (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. following the established traditions of refined society and good taste

   "those bygone days when young women were taught how to drink tea while wearing long gloves and other genteel ways of behaving"

   similar: befitting, correct, de rigueur, decent, decorous, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly
   related: acceptable, adequate, satisfactory, tolerable, dress, dressy, formal, dignified, elegant, gracious, priggish, prim, stiff, stuffy, apt, material, relevant, compatible, congenial, harmonious, allowed, authorized, kosher, permitted
   opposite: improper, inappropriate, incorrect, indecent, indecorous, indelicate, unbecoming, ungenteel, unseemly
   near: intolerable, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, casual, grungy, informal, seedy, shabby, tacky, banned, barred, disallowed, forbidden, interdicted, outlawed, prohibited, proscribed, awkward, gauche, ungraceful

2. having or showing a taste for the fine arts and gracious living

   "she grew up in genteel old Savannah"

   similar: accomplished, civilized, couth, cultivated, cultured, polished, refined
   related: cerebral, highbrow, highbrowed, high-toned, intellectual, intellectualist, intellectualistic, educated, erudite, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, well-read, civil, courteous, mannerly, polite, well-bred, cosmopolitan, sophisticated, urbane, hypercivilized, overcivilized, oversophisticated
   opposite: barbaric, barbarous, philistine, uncivilized, uncultured, ungenteel, unpolished, unrefined
   near: ignorant, illiterate, uneducated, unlettered, lowbrow, unintelligent, coarse, ill-bred, ill-mannered, backwoods, provincial, rustic, inelegant, polyester, unsophisticated, boorish, churlish, cloddish, clownish, crude, uncouth, vulgar

3. of high birth, rank, or station

   "the genteel ladies never mixed with the servants"

   "prohibited by reason of her genteel birth from marrying the man she loved"

   similar: aristocratic, blue-blooded, gentle, grand, great, highborn, highbred, noble, patrician, silk-stocking, upper-class, upper-crust, wellborn
   related: high, lofty, superior, elevated, ennobled, exalted, gentlemanly, kingly, knightly, ladylike, lordly, princely, queenly, regal, royal, high-level, senior
   opposite: baseborn, common, humble, ignoble, low, lower-class, lowly, mean, nonaristocratic, plebeian, ungenteel
   near: inferior, knavish, bastard, illegitimate, ordinary, plain, abased, degraded, junior, subordinate

4. showing consideration, courtesy, and good manners

   "his genteel gesture of holding the door for the ladies"

   similar: civil, courteous, gracious, mannerly, polite, well-bred
   related: attentive, careful, considerate, nice, solicitous, thoughtful, chivalrous, civilized, courtly, gallant, gentlemanlike, gentlemanly, ladylike, ceremonial, ceremonious, red-carpet, couth, formal, smooth, suave, unctuous, urbane, elegant, refined, deferential, dutiful, respectful, submissive, yielding, acceptable, appropriate, becoming, befitting, comme il faut, correct, decent, decorous, fit, fitting, good, meet, proper, respectable, right, seemly, suitable, affable, cordial, friendly, genial, hospitable, pleasant, sociable, felicitous, graceful, demure, humble, meek, modest, unassertive
   opposite: discourteous, ill-bred, ill-mannered, impolite, inconsiderate, mannerless, rude, thoughtless, uncivil, ungenteel, ungracious, unmannered, unmannerly
   near: heedless, inconsiderate, thoughtless, audacious, bold, bold-faced, brash, brassy, disrespectful, impertinent, impudent, insolent, lippy, saucy, shameless, boorish, churlish, clodhopping, clownish, loutish, uncouth, vulgar, casual, informal, unceremonious, improper, inappropriate, incorrect, indecent, indecorous, uncalled-for, unrespectable, unseemly, arrogant, conceited, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious