Meaning & use
gentility
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Meanings
noununcountable
Polite, refined manners and behavior that are linked with high social class.
Grammar: No plural; often with an adjective: faded gentility.
Patterns
- an air of gentility
- genteel manners
The old hotel kept an air of gentility, with silver teapots and linen napkins.
Her gentility showed in the way she greeted every guest.
The novel mocks the false gentility of the village elite.
noununcountableformal
The condition of belonging to the respectable upper or middle class, especially by birth.
Grammar: Used in historical or literary contexts.
Patterns
- of gentility
- the gentility of a family
The family clung to its gentility despite having lost its fortune.
In that era, gentility depended on land and manners.
He spoke with the gentility of an earlier age.
Common combinations
- an air of gentility
- The tearoom had an air of gentility.
- faded gentility
- The house showed faded gentility.
- shabby gentility
- They lived in shabby gentility.
- Victorian gentility
- The book describes Victorian gentility.
- false gentility
- He affected false gentility.
Synonyms and how they differ
- refinement
- Refinement is about polished taste and manners and is not tied to class.
- politeness
- Politeness is everyday good manners, whereas gentility suggests upper-class style.
- breeding
- Breeding stresses upbringing and birth, and can sound snobbish.
- civility
- Civility means basic courtesy, with no class implication.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: gentility or gentleness?
gentility vs gentleness
Gentleness means soft, kind treatment; gentility is about refined, class-linked manners.
Practice
The novel describes a family clinging to ___ after losing its money.
Choose one answer.
Gentility fits as refined, upper-class manners; the other nouns have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gentility”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.