different between polite vs submissive

English

Etymology

From Latin pol?tus (“polished”), past participle of poli? (“I polish, smooth”); see polish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p??la?t/

Adjective

polite (comparative politer or more polite, superlative politest or most polite)

1. Well-mannered, civilized.
   • 1733, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Bathurst

     He marries, bows at court, and grows polite.

2. (obsolete) Smooth, polished, burnished.

   • rays of light […] falling on […] a polite surface

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:polite

Antonyms

• impolite
• rude

Derived terms

• over-polite
• politeness
• polite literature
• polite society

Related terms

• polish

Translations

Verb

polite (third-person singular simple present polites, present participle politing, simple past and past participle polited)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To polish; to refine; to render polite.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “polite”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Further reading

• polite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• polite in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• piolet, topile

Italian

Adjective

polite f pl

1. feminine plural of polito

Anagrams

• pilote

Latin

Verb

pol?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of poli?

References

• polite in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• polite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /s?b?m?s?v/

Adjective

submissive (comparative more submissive, superlative most submissive)

1. Meekly obedient or passive.
   • 1756, Edmund Burke, The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke, G. Bell & sons, page 314:

     The powerful managers for government were not sufficiently submissive to the pleasure of the possessors of immediate and personal favour, sometimes from a confidence in their own strength natural and acquired; sometimes from a fear of offending their friends, and weakening that lead in the country, which gave them a consideration independent of the court.

   • 1913, Edward Lee Thorndike, Educational Psychology, Teachers college, Columbia university, page 92:

     If the human being who answers these tendencies assumes a submissive behavior, in essence a lowering of head and shoulders, wavering glance, absence of all preparations for attack, general weakening of muscle tonus, and hesitancy in movement, the movements of attempt at mastery become modified into attempts at the more obvious swagger, strut and glare of triumph.

   • 2007, Brian Watermeyer, Disability and Social Change: A South African Agenda, HSRC Press, page 269:

     Once oppression has been internalised, little force is needed to keep us submissive.

Synonyms

• biddable
• docile
• meek
• slavish
• timid
• obedient
• subservient

Antonyms

• dominant, domineering (ruling)
• defiant, rebellious (ignoring)

Derived terms

• submissively (adverb)
• submissiveness (noun)

Translations

Noun

submissive (plural submissives)

1. (BDSM) One who submits to a dominant partner in sexual practices.
2. (rare) One who submits.

Translations

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

submissive

1. inflection of submissiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular