🇯🇵Japanese Source WordCode: JA

上品な

Pronunciation / Transliteration: jōhin na

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Genteel/dʒɛnˈtiːl/
adjectiveCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #15000 frequency
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🇯🇵 Example Sentence in Japanese:

"彼女は上品な話し方をし、まるで王族に話しかけているかのようだった。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As adjective
  1. 1

    Polite, refined, or respectable, often in an affected or ostentatious way.

    "She spoke in a genteel manner, as if she were addressing royalty."
  2. 2

    Characterized by an exaggerated sense of propriety or refinement.

    "His genteel behavior at the party seemed out of place among the more casual guests."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word 'genteel' originates from the Middle French term 'gentil', meaning 'noble' or 'well-born', which itself comes from the Latin 'gentilis', meaning 'of the same clan or race'. Over time, it evolved to describe a refined or elegant manner, often associated with the upper class.

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