urbane
/əːˈbeɪn
/adjective
(Of a person, especially a man) courteous and refined in manner: he is charming and urbane a sophisticated, urbane man...
- Educated at one of Shanghai's top universities, he's urbane, articulate in English and works in a foreign law firm.
- It was a terrible thing to say, especially since he is an urbane man.
- He was urbane and charming as, indeed, are most members of the Sri Lankan ruling elite.
Synonyms
suave, sophisticated, debonair, worldly, elegant, cultivated, cultured, civilized, well bred, worldly-wise;
glib, smooth, slick, polished, refined, poised, self-possessed, dignified;
courteous, polite, civil, well mannered, gentlemanly, gallant, courtly, charming, affable, tactful, diplomatic, media-savvy
informal cool
dated mannerly
Derivatives
urbanely
/ adverb ...- He replied urbanely, ‘I like to look out for the interests of my friends.
- ‘Perhaps I do, Miss Sommers,’ he said urbanely.
- Shane stepped forward urbanely, and Tal did the same.
urbaneness
Origin
Mid 16th century (in the sense 'urban'): from French urbain or Latin urbanus (see urban).
This word was first used in the sense ‘urban’; it comes from Latin urbanus ‘belonging to the city’, from urbs ‘city’, the source of urban (early 17th century) and conurbation (early 20th century). Suburban appears in the early 17th century used literally for ‘relating to a suburb’ (an LME word meaning ‘outside the city’). The disparaging sense appears in 1817 with Byron's ‘vulgar, dowdyish, and suburban’.
Rhymes
- South Australia
- Southaven
- south-away
- South Bank
- South Bend
- South Boston
- southbound
- south by east (or west)
- South Canadian River
- South Carolina
- South Carolinian
- south central
- Southcottian
- south country
- South Dakota
- South Dakotan
- South Devon
- Southdown
- south-east
- South East Asia
- South East Asia Treaty Organization
- southeaster
- south-easterly
- south-eastern
- southeasterner