genteel

genteel, a. and n.
  (dʒɛnˈtiːl)
  Forms: 6–8 gentile, 8 gentil, 7– genteel.
  [A re-adoption, at the end of the 16th c., of F. gentil, which had been previously adopted in the 13th c., and had assumed the form gentle.
  The re-adoption first appears in the form gentile, distinguished from gentile (= non-Jewish) by retaining the Fr. pronunciation of the i and the stress on the last syllable. It is probable that it was originally fashionable to retain the Fr. nasal sound in the first syll.; hence the vulgar pronunciation represented by the spelling ‘jonteel’, which occurs in comic literature of the early 19th c. The fully anglicized spelling genteel came in at the end of the 17th c.; see also gentee, which corresponds more nearly to the pronunciation of the Fr. word, in which the l is silent. Another attempt to render the Fr. sound is jaunty.
  A few years before the middle of the 19th c. the word was much ridiculed as being characteristic of those who are possessed with a dread of being taken for ‘common people’, or who attach exaggerated importance to supposed marks of social superiority. In seriously laudatory use it may now be said to be a vulgarism; in educated language it has always a sarcastic or at least playful colouring.]
  A. adj.
  1. Belonging to or included among the gentry; of a rank above the commonalty. (Cf. gentle A. 1.) Obs. or arch.

1628 Prynne Love-lockes 1 Vngodly Fashions..Transforme our Light and Giddie Females of the Superior and Gentile ranke. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xviii. 116 Nor is a capacity to be gentile denyed to one Yeoman. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C., Malta 308 All the Knights are of noble or gentile extraction. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 49 Thomas Wyatt..was born of an ancient and gentile Family. 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) VIII. lxiv. 80 A genteel mob assembled on the day of each promised performance. 1885 J. Gillow Bibliogr. Dict. Eng. Cath. II. 226 Faunt, Laurence Arthur..of an ancient and genteel family.

  2. Appropriate to persons of quality. Now chiefly with sarcastic implication. a. Of dress, dwellings, etc.; formerly also of food, meals, hospitality, etc.: Stylish, fashionably elegant or sumptuous.

1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. i. (1601) C iij a, Amor. Your Rose too do's most grace-fully in troath. Asot. Tis the most gentile and receiu'd Weare now Sir. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. iv. 326 To accoutre their eldest Sonnes in a gentile military equipage when Knighted by the King. 1659 Gentl. Calling (1696) 80 Nature affords not meat delicate enough for their palats; it must be adulterated with the costly mixtures of Art, before it can become Gentile nourishment. 1665 Pepys Diary (1879) III. 135 We had here the genteelest dinner..I have seen many a day. 1678 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 425 note, A tall man..gentile clothes, and rings and pendants in his eares. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 64 And then what Curiosity in Sawces? What fantastick Humors for Dressing? The more extravagant and unnatural, the more genteel..forsooth! 1753 World No. 4. 20 Knocking at the door of a genteel house over-against her. 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen (1809) 31 And observe; a single flapped saddle is the genteelest. 1788 V. Knox Winter Even. III. viii. xi. 171 The entertainment was sumptuous and genteel. 1790 T. Bewick Quadrup. (1807) 339 It [the Dalmatian Dog]..is frequently kept in genteel houses, as an elegant attendant on a carriage. 1797 Monthly Mag. III. 204 Near the bath are two or three genteel inns. 1814 D. H. O'Brien Captiv. & Escape 167 He..conducted us to a genteel house, close to a glass manufactory. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede 60 Some coast-town that was once a watering-place, and is now a port, where the genteel streets are silent and grass-grown. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xiv, He was possessed of a genteel villa and ornamental garden.

  b. Of employments, education, income: Suited to the station of a gentleman or gentlewoman. Of manners, habits of life, etc.: Characteristic of persons of quality; resembling what prevails in upper-class society.

1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. i. G 1 b, A spitting Critick, whose mouth Voids nothing but gentile and vnuulgar Rheume of censure. 1635 Quarles Embl. ii. ii. (1718) 70 We made art servile, and the trade gentile [rimes with guile]. 1673 Stillingfl. Serm. ii. 32 Till..the greatest slavery to sin be accounted but..a gentile compliance with the fashions of the world. 1674 S. Vincent Yng. Gallant's Acad. 87 [The Gallant's] pleasures consist in fine Cloaths, gentile Oaths, as he calls them. 1688 S. Penton Guardian's Instr. 36 Civil Law, was then proposed as a genteel sort of study. 1697 Potter Antiq. Greece i. xxvi. (1715) 151 They, who can afford a gentile Education. 1727 Philip Quarll (1816) 34 She intended to have kept him, till he was by years and learning qualified for some genteel trade. 1766 [Anstey] Bath Guide xiii. 106, I the Muffins preferr'd To all the genteel Conversation I heard. 1788 V. Knox Winter Even. II. vi. xi. 284 You went..to provide a genteel maintenance for our four little ones. 1801 M. Edgeworth Gd. French Governess (1832) 176 She considered her mother as an inferior personage, destitute of genteel accomplishments. 1804 W. Tennant Ind. Recreat. (ed. 2) I. 318 A genteel business, such as jewellery, mercery, or perfumery. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds iv. 46 He led a pretty genteel life as a shopkeeper. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xxxi, The pupils cared little for a companion who had..nothing genteel to talk about.

  3. Having the habits characteristic of superior station; that ranks or claims to rank above the commonalty on the ground of manners or style of living. † In early use: Polished, well bred (obs.). (Now chiefly with sarcastic implication.)

a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 552 Lenox was young, handsome, and gentile. 1657 Cokaine Obstin. Lady i. i. Poems, etc. (1658) 302 Houswifery is the superficies of a genteel female, and the Parenthesis of a Lady, which may well be left out. 1681 Wood Life 2 Mar. (O.H.S.) II. 519 A gentile man but a presbyterian. 1710 M. Henry Exp. Numb. xxv. (1725) III. 371/2 Zimri and Cosbi, Sinners of the first Rank, genteel Sinners. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 404 ¶3 Valerio had an universal Character, was genteel, had Learning. 1751 Chesterfield Lett. 13 June (1774) II. 168 And though you should be told that you are genteel still aim at being genteeler. 1752 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Bute 16 Feb., He appeared to me gentile, well bred, well shaped, and sensible. 1776 Mrs. Harris in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 342 The Duchess of Manchester says he [Tessier] is not a person fit to be admitted into genteel society. 1815 Jane Austen Emma ii. vii. 175 They were of low origin, in trade, and only moderately genteel. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 63 A man..might be rich without being genteel, and poor without being vulgar. 1837 J. D. Lang New S. Wales II. 217 Despicable avarice..and the practice of downright injustice are by no means..banished even yet from the genteelest circles in New South Wales. 1841 Thackeray Sk., Lady in Opera-Box, I was not genteel enough for her circle. 1842 L. S. Costello Pilgr. Auvergne I. 295 The actual existence is evident of a genteel middle class. 1885 M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird I. iii. 101 Very narrow are the straits of genteel poverty.

ellipt. 1864 J. H. Friswell Gentle Life 6 The genteel know only the genteel. 1867 Dickens Lett. (1880) II. 270 A very small opinion of what the great genteel have done for us.

abst. (quasi-n.) 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 392 His behaviour had something of the genteel in it. 1888 Stevenson Some Gentlem. in Fict. in Scribner's Mag. III. 766 Mr. Adams, delightful as he is, has no pretension to ‘the genteel’.

  † b. Of behaviour: Courteous, polite, obliging.

1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 53 French..They are of so gentile an humour, that they make themselves admired by strangers. 1688 Crowne Darius Prol., Nay, do not damn him much, if he writes ill; For then he writes like you—that is Gentile. 1702 W. J. Bruyn's Voy. Levant vi. 18 The Merchant gave him as genteel a Denial as he could. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 75 ¶4 The more Virtuous the Man is, the nearer he will naturally be to the Character of Genteel and Agreeable. 1773 Johnson in Boswell (1831) III. 105 The hospitable and genteel manner in which you were pleased to treat me. 1814 Scott Let. to J. B. S. Morritt 7 Jan. in Lockhart, The magistrates..have done the genteel thing (as Winifred Jenkins says)..and presented me with the freedom of the city.

  † c. Liberal in money matters. Of a gift, etc.: Handsome. Obs.

1628 Digby Voy. Medit. 34 The captaine and marchant..sent me a gentile present. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 270 Proposes that Mr. Williams's present Living be supply'd by a Curate; to whom no doubt Mr. Williams will be very genteel. 1774 Goldsm. Grecian Hist. II. 130 Philip..settled a very genteel stipend upon him [Aristotle]. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 152 Giving..a genteel reward to the sailors for their bravery.

  4. Of persons: Gentlemanly or ladylike in appearance; well-dressed. (Now vulgar, exc. in depreciatory sense: cf. shabby-genteel.)

1629 Leather 13 Some Citizens (out of a scorne not to be Gentile) goe euerie day Booted. 1696 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) IV. 125 A genteel person was seized at the exchequer picking a man's pocket. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3917/4 John Hunt, smooth Fac'd, a genteel Man, aged about 25. a 1732 Gay Rehearsal at Gotham i. Wks. (1772) 343 The Girl is very Genteel tonight. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. Wks. (Globe) 657/2 Did not I work that waistcoat, to make you genteel?

quasi-adv. 1771 T. Hull Sir W. Harrington (1797) III. 202 David, being dressed tolerably genteel, ventured into the coffee-room.

  5. Elegant or graceful in shape or appearance. (Now only with playful or sarcastic mixture of sense 2.)

1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 349/2 In this square is the Figure of the genteel Punch. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4635/4 A genteel round-barrel'd Gelding. 1719 London & Wise Compl. Gard. 187 A very pretty good Expedient, but never looks Gentile nor Handsom. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 283 The genteel manner by which the Steps were disposed. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty xi. 139 The longest of these [lines] is not quite sufficiently so, in proportion to the other, for a genteel man. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng. (1761) I. xix. 458 His countenance beautiful; his limbs genteel and slender. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 91 How a small foot came to be reckoned genteel, I will not pretend to say. 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxi. 303 The third is a taller, genteeler, later-flowering plant. 1818 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. (1834) 157 A young girl, who exactly answered George Colman's description of Yarico, ‘quite brown, but extremely genteel, like a Wedgewood teapot’. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xi, A little walnut-bark has made my yellow skin a genteel brown.

  † b. Of immaterial things: Graceful, refined, delicate. Obs.

1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iii. §30 That other Corporeal Theism seems to be of the two rather more generous and gentile, which supposes the whole world to be one Animal, and God to be a certain..etherial but intellectual Matter. 1679 Shadwell True Widow ii. Wks. 1720 III. 144 They like my songs too; they say they're so easie, so gentile, and well bred. 1692 Dryden St. Evremont's Ess. 193 Happy then is that Fancy, Noble and Genteel, which makes it self accepted by our greatest Enemies. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. Misc. iii. i. (1737) III. 142 The natural and simple manner which conceals and covers Art, is the most truly artful, and of the genteelest, truest and best-study'd Taste. 1715 J. Richardson Theory Paint. 196 Annibale Carracci was rather Great, than Gentile; tho' he was That too; and Guido's Character is Grace. 1728 T. Sheridan tr. Persius' Sat. v. (1739) 67 You are well skilled in shaming People out of their Vices, by your genteel Manner of Raillery. 1742 Gray Let. to West 8 May, Wks. 1816 II. 136, I rejoice to see you putting up your prayers to the May: She cannot choose but come at such a call. It [West's Ode to May] is as light and genteel as herself.

  6. Comb., as genteel-like, † genteel-looked, genteel-looking, genteel-shaped adjs.

1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4327/16 Deserted..William Wakling, a very genteel look'd Man. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 219 Miss Goodwin..is..the genteelest-shaped child. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xii. xiv, A genteel-looking man, but upon a very shabby horse, rode up to Jones. 1765 Foote Commissary ii. Wks. 1799 II. 24, I accost him, in a courteous, genteel-like manner.

  B. n. A genteel person; a gentleman. Obs. exc. in occasional use. (Cf. gentle B.)
  In ed. 1692 of B. Jonson's Ev. Man out of Hum. Prol., and in ed. 1711 of Cowley's Love's Riddle v, Genteels (vocatively) is substituted for the original reading Gentles.

1675 Cotton Burlesque upon Burlesque Prol. 1 Gentiles, Behold a Rural Muse..Presents you old, but new translated News. 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) V. 349 Ye lofties, Genteels, who above us all sit. 1829 Mechanics' Mag. XII. 68 A party..denominated ‘The Genteels’ by the working classes because of their dislike to the term mechanic. 1892 Athenæum 21 May 660/3 He [Manning] was known for some years as the ‘Apostle of the Genteels’, so little had he then developed his all-absorbing interest in the masses.

  Hence genˈteelify v. intr. nonce-wd., to become genteel.

1834 Tait's Mag. I. 609 Mrs. Mark Luke had genteelified and absolutely refined more in one season, than in some half-a-dozen former years of stinted appliances.

Oxford English Dictionary