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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
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definition by Oxford Dictionaries