genteel

Definitions


[dʒɛnˈtiːl], (Adjective)

Definitions:
- characterized by exaggerated or affected politeness, refinement, or respectability
(e.g: her genteel upbringing)


Phrases:

Origin:
late 16th century (in the sense ‘fashionable, stylish’): from French gentil ‘well-born’. From the 17th century to the 19th century the word was used in such senses as ‘of good social position’, ‘having the manners of a well-born person’, ‘well bred’. The ironic or derogatory implication dates from the 19th century




definition by Oxford Dictionaries