Adjacent Words

Courteous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COURTEOUS, a. [from court.]
1. Polite; wellbred; being of elegant manners; civil; obliging; condescending; applied to persons.
2. Polite; civil; graceful; elegant; complaisant; applied to manners, etc.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: exhibiting courtesy and politeness; "a nice gesture" [syn: courteous, gracious, nice]
2: characterized by courtesy and gracious good manners; "if a man be gracious and courteous to strangers it shows he is a citizen of the world"-Francis Bacon [ant: discourteous]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English corteis, from Anglo-French curteis, from curt Date: 13th century 1. marked by polished manners, gallantry, or ceremonial usage of a court 2. marked by respect for and consideration of others Synonyms: see civil • courteously adverb • courteousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. polite, kind, or considerate in manner; well-mannered. Derivatives: courteously adv. courteousness n. Etymology: ME f. OF corteis, curteis f. Rmc (as COURT): assim. to words in -OUS

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Courteous Cour"te*ous (k?r"t?-?s; 277), a. [OE. cortais, corteis, cortois, rarely corteous, OF. corties, corteis, F. courtois. See Court.] Of courtlike manners; pertaining to, or expressive of, courtesy; characterized by courtesy; civil; obliging; well bred; polite; affable; complaisant. A patient and courteous bearing. --Prescott. His behavior toward his people is grave and courteous. --Fuller.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Someone who is courteous is polite and respectful to other people. He was a kind and courteous man... My friend's reply was courteous but firm. = polite ADJ • courteously Then he nodded courteously to me and walked off to perform his unpleasant duty. ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Polite, civil, affable, urbane, complaisant, gracious, courtly, ceremonious, debonair, respectful, obliging, well-bred.

Moby Thesaurus

accommodating, affable, agreeable, amiable, attentive, cap in hand, ceremonious, civil, civilized, clubbable, clubbish, clubby, communicative, companionable, companionate, compatible, complaisant, congenial, considerate, courtly, decorous, deferential, diplomatic, dutiful, fair, fit for society, fond of society, friendly, genial, genteel, gentlemanly, graceful, gracious, gregarious, honorific, hospitable, ladylike, mannerly, obliging, polished, polite, proper, regardful, respectful, sociable, social, social-minded, solicitous, tactful, thoughtful, urbane, well-behaved, well-bred, well-mannered