单词 | gentility |
释义 | gentility (once / 4289 pages) n Anyone can be nice. Many people have good manners. But gentility is that rare kind of graciousness that is handed down from one elegant generation to the next. In the early 13th century, gentility described someone's social status, coming from the Old French word gentil, meaning "high-born, noble, of good family." Over time the word's meaning broadened to include those coming from a family whose members had a refined manner and an elegant way of expressing themselves — no title of nobility required, just as today anyone can be a gentleman (or woman). WORD FAMILYgentility: gentilities+/gentle: gentility, gentled, gentlely, gentleness, gentler, gentles, gentlest, gentling, gently, ungentle/gentleness: gentlenesses/ungentle: ungently USAGE EXAMPLESA gentle and wry bow-tied lawyer and stalwart of countless civic boards, Tom Lewis wears his gentility lightly. Washington Post(Dec 29, 2016) Despite this gentility I’ve endured FBI investigations and personal threats, and once had to travel on book tour with a bodyguard. The Guardian(Nov 23, 2016) And then there are the funny bits – in a dark drama about a heinous crime entirely resistant to categorization, or moral gentility. The Guardian(Nov 10, 2016) n elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression Syn|Hyper breeding, genteelness elegance a refined quality of gracefulness and good taste |
随便看 |
英语词典包含147318条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。