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NOBLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A titled peer of the realm
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("noble" is a kind of...):
male aristocrat (a man who is an aristocrat)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "noble"):
viscount ((in various countries) a son or younger brother or a count)
thane (a feudal lord or baron)
sire (a title of address formerly used for a man of rank and authority)
peer (a nobleman (duke or marquis or earl or viscount or baron) who is a member of the British peerage)
palatine; palsgrave ((Middle Ages) the lord of a palatinate who exercised sovereign powers over his lands)
milord (a term of address for an English lord)
mesne lord (a feudal lord who was lord to his own tenants on land held from a superior lord)
marquess; marquis (nobleman (in various countries) ranking above a count)
margrave (a German nobleman ranking above a count (corresponding in rank to a British marquess))
grandee (a nobleman of highest rank in Spain or Portugal)
duke (a nobleman (in various countries) of high rank)
count (a nobleman (in various countries) having rank equal to a British earl)
burgrave (a nobleman ruling a German castle and surrounding grounds by hereditary right)
baron (a nobleman (in various countries) of varying rank)
armiger (a nobleman entitled to bear heraldic arms)
Instance hyponyms:
Don Juan (a legendary Spanish nobleman and philanderer who became the hero of many poems and plays and operas)
Mortimer; Roger de Mortimer (English nobleman who deposed Edward II and was executed by Edward III (1287-1330))
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Impressive in appearance
Example:
stately columns
Synonyms:
baronial; imposing; noble; stately
Classified under:
Similar:
impressive (making a strong or vivid impression)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character
Example:
noble deeds
Classified under:
Similar:
dignifying; ennobling (investing with dignity or honor)
elevated; exalted; grand; high-flown; high-minded; idealistic; lofty; noble-minded; rarefied; rarified; sublime (of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style)
greathearted; magnanimous (noble and generous in spirit)
Also:
honorable; honourable (worthy of being honored; entitled to honor and respect)
Attribute:
grandeur; magnanimousness; nobility; nobleness (the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct)
Antonym:
ignoble (completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose)
Derivation:
nobility (the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times
Example:
of noble birth
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
royal (being of the rank of a monarch)
queenlike; queenly (having the rank of or resembling or befitting a queen)
princely (having the rank of or befitting a prince)
monarchal; monarchical (having the characteristics of or befitting or worthy of a monarch)
kinglike; kingly (having the rank of or resembling or befitting a king)
imperial; majestic; purple; regal; royal (belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler)
coroneted; highborn; titled (belonging to the peerage)
august; grand; lordly (of or befitting a lord)
aristocratic; aristocratical; blue; blue-blooded; gentle; patrician (belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy)
Antonym:
lowborn (of humble birth or origins)
Derivation:
nobility (a privileged class holding hereditary titles)
nobility (the state of being of noble birth)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Inert especially toward oxygen
Example:
noble metals include gold and silver and platinum
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unreactive ((chemistry) not reacting chemically)
Context examples:
The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found out of this horrible affair.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He was noble, unselfish, loving—all that my husband was not.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
What course was taken to supply that assembly, when any noble family became extinct?
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I don’t know what the Ghost would have been without you, and if I could only cherish such noble sentiments I would tell you her master is deeply grateful.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Edmund again felt grave, and only replied, “It is a noble profession.”
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
It was a magnificent sight to any one who had not lost his sense of appreciation of the noblest of all the works of Nature.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Yes, replied Mr. Wickham; his estate there is a noble one.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Your ideas are only more noble than mine.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
We perfectly understand the present vexation; and everybody must love you the better for such a noble honest affection.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I do not require you to adopt all my suspicions, though you make so noble a profession of doing it, but I honestly tell you what they are.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
