polite
/pəˈlaɪt/ adjective, verb, proper noun
Forms politer politest polites politing polited
- adjective Well-mannered, civilized. “It's not polite to use a mobile phone in a restaurant.”
- adjective (obsolete) Smooth, polished, burnished.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To polish; to refine; to render polite.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
civil gracious civilized complaisant correct courteous cultivated fair-mannered genteel mannerly polished politic reasonable refined urbane well-behaved well-mannered well-bred civilised cultured
Antonyms
Etymology
From Latin polītus (“polished”), past participle of poliō (“to polish, smooth”); see polish.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Smooth; polished. [Obs.]
- adjective Smooth and refined in behavior or manners; well bred; courteous; complaisant; obliging; civil.
- verb To polish; to refine; to render polite. [Obs.] Ray.
Etymology [L. politus, p. p. of polire to polish: cf. F. poli. See Polish, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “polite”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details