I. (ˈ)jen.|tēl, esp before pause or consonant -ēəl adjective
( sometimes genteeler sometimes genteelest )
Etymology: Middle French gentil — more at gentle
1.
a. : appropriate to the status or manners of the gentry or upper class : having an aristocratic quality or flavor : stylish , fashionable
Latin is genteel , and I have sent my eldest boy to learn it — George Borrow
like genteel tailors, they rated their services very high — Herman Melville
call it very genteel … real stylish — John Buchan
say a bouquet … 'tis more genteel — W.M.Thackeray
preferred the genteel sword cane and the pistol — Green Peyton
b. : characteristic of or relating to the gentry or upper class : of or relating to a class ranking above the commonalty
not a genteel face to be seen — Jane Austen
a patrician with a genteel background — A.S.Link
by their education … the boys came to occupy a genteel position — G.F.Whicher
c. : elegant or graceful in manner, appearance, or shape
looking at the misty autumn landscape of a genteel park — Anthony West
a graceful speaker with genteel motions — Earl of Chesterfield
d. : free from vulgarity or rudeness : marked by delicacy of manner : polite , courteous , polished
impeccably genteel , she said “Yes, that's exactly what I wanted” — Helen Howe
her letter, couched in majestic but most genteel phrase — Margaret Deland
the symbol of the privileged classes … genteel on the surface, hard as nails underneath — Martin Turnell
2.
a. : maintaining or striving to maintain the air, forms, or pretense of superior or middle-class social status or respectability
a shabby genteel residential district — W.L.Sperry
a … mansion of faded charm and genteel shabbiness — American Guide Series: Delaware
spent most of her declining years in genteel poverty — F.H.Cramer
people seem to think that an antique dealer is a genteel crook — Sam Boal
b.
(1) : characterized by extreme or excessive regard for conventional morality or ideals : marked by false delicacy, prudery, or affectation : excessively nice or refined : puritanical , victorian
readers are tired of delicate genteel novels — David Daiches
her ideas were genteel and middle-class — Charles Partridge
escaping from the genteel censorship that had been a nuisance to literature — Edmund Wilson
the genteel expression is “bovine attendant” — F.D.Smith & Barbara Wilcox
(2) : conventionally or insipidly pretty : conforming to traditional canons : not bold or vigorous
a timid and genteel artistic style
II. noun
( -s )
: a genteel person