| Library / English Dictionary |
POLITENESS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of showing regard for others
Synonyms:
civility; politeness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("politeness" is a kind of...):
action (something done (usually as opposed to something said))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "politeness"):
courtesy (a courteous or respectful or considerate act)
deference; respect (a courteous expression (by word or deed) of esteem or regard)
devoir (formal expression of respect)
Derivation:
polite (showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A courteous manner that respects accepted social usage
Synonyms:
niceness; politeness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("politeness" is a kind of...):
courtesy; good manners (a courteous manner)
Attribute:
polite (showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.)
impolite (not polite)
Antonym:
impoliteness (a discourteous manner that ignores accepted social usage)
Derivation:
polite (not rude; marked by satisfactory (or especially minimal) adherence to social usages and sufficient but not noteworthy consideration for others)
Context examples:
The fuller looked sadly and gravely at him; but finding that he still laughed, he bowed with much mock politeness and stalked onwards in his borrowed clothes.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“Certainly,” said Hal, with freezing politeness, taking hold of the gee-pole with one hand and swinging his whip from the other.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
"Pardon me," I said, with equal politeness, "but I have a special reason for wishing to know who purchased it."
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Indeed, it was remarkable how well he bore these slights and with what unwearying politeness he kept on trying to ingratiate himself with all.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Wit, valour, and politeness, were likewise proposed to be largely taxed, and collected in the same manner, by every person’s giving his own word for the quantum of what he possessed.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Judge Blount recovered himself and attempted to go on, addressing himself to Martin with an assumption of politeness that the latter understood was for the benefit of the ladies.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Williamson, the ex-clergyman, bowed to us with mock politeness, and the bully, Woodley, advanced with a shout of brutal and exultant laughter.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The politeness which she had been brought up to practise as a duty made it impossible for her to escape; while the want of that higher species of self-command, that just consideration of others, that knowledge of her own heart, that principle of right, which had not formed any essential part of her education, made her miserable under it.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Wrapt up in a cloak of politeness, she seemed determined to hazard nothing.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Anne could not refuse; but never had she sacrificed to politeness with a more suffering spirit.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
