different between genteel vs genteelish

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gent?lis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), from g?ns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -?lis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle and gentile. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??n?ti?l/

Adjective

genteel (comparative more genteel, superlative most genteel)

1. Affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 407]:

     Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.

2. Polite and well-mannered.
3. Stylish or elegant.
4. Aristocratic

Derived terms

• genteelism
• genteelly

Related terms

• gentleman

Translations

Anagrams

• genelet

English

Etymology

genteel +? -ish

Adjective

genteelish (comparative more genteelish, superlative most genteelish)

1. Somewhat genteel.
   • 1790, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journals 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 97:

     Not to detail the history minutely, there was a pretty numerous company, two genteelish ladies and their husbands, one a clergyman of buckish cast […] .

Anagrams

• gehlenites