Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Money given as a tip, gratuity, or bribe.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Sweetness or mildness of manner; kindness; gentleness.
- noun A conciliatory offering; a present or gift; a reward; a bribe.
- noun A kind or agreeable remark; a compliment.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Gentleness and sweetness of manner; agreeableness.
- noun A gift for service done or to be done; an honorarium; a present; sometimes, a bribe.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Gentleness and sweetness of manner;
agreeableness . - noun A gift for service done or to be done; an
honorarium ; apresent ; sometimes, abribe .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Give all your motions, too, an air of douceur, which is directly the reverse of their present celerity and rapidity.
Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman 2005
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The "douceur" of their sweet pitifulness towards him runs like a quivering magnetic current through all the maddest fancies of his wayward imagination.
Suspended Judgments Essays on Books and Sensations John Cowper Powys 1917
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It is all but impossible not to wish to stand well with your waiter: I have myself been often treated with conspicuous rudeness by the tribe, yet I have never been able to withhold the 'douceur' that marked me for a gentleman in their eyes, and entitled me to their dishonorable esteem.
Complete March Family Trilogy William Dean Howells 1878
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It is all but impossible not to wish to stand well with your waiter: I have myself been often treated with conspicuous rudeness by the tribe, yet I have never been able to withhold the 'douceur' that marked me for a gentleman in their eyes, and entitled me to their dishonorable esteem.
Their Wedding Journey William Dean Howells 1878
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Give all your motions, too, an air of 'douceur', which is directly the reverse of their present celerity and rapidity.
Complete Project Gutenberg Earl of Chesterfield Works Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733
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Observe those carefully who have that 'douceur' that charms you and others; and your own good sense will soon enable you to discover the different ingredients of which it is composed.
Complete Project Gutenberg Earl of Chesterfield Works Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733
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For God's sake, therefore, now think of nothing but shining, and even distinguishing yourself in the most polite courts, by your air, your address, your manners, your politeness, your 'douceur', your graces.
Complete Project Gutenberg Earl of Chesterfield Works Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733
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You must be more particularly attentive to this 'douceur', whenever you are obliged to refuse what is asked of you, or to say what in itself cannot be very agreeable to those to whom you say it.
Complete Project Gutenberg Earl of Chesterfield Works Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733
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MY DEAR FRIEND: Of all the various ingredients that compose the useful and necessary art of pleasing, no one is so effectual and engaging as that gentleness, that 'douceur' of countenance and manner, to which you are no stranger, though (God knows why) a sworn enemy.
Complete Project Gutenberg Earl of Chesterfield Works Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733
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This 'douceur' is not so easily described as felt.
Complete Project Gutenberg Earl of Chesterfield Works Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield 1733
chained_bear commented on the word douceur
"Furthermore, at shocking cost in douceurs to the Dutch, he set a band of brilliant Chinese carpenters to work, changing the ordinary carronade-slides to those with an inclined plane to absorb much of the recoil."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Nutmeg of Consolation, 97
March 6, 2008
michaelt42 commented on the word douceur
According to OED douceur entered English from French late in the 14th century, so that it appears not to have been taken in earlier from Norman French.
December 12, 2011
hernesheir commented on the word douceur
Still, it doesn't quite have the ring that cumshaw has, does it?
December 12, 2011
qms commented on the word douceur
In Hollywood's view it's a douceur:
A starlet, to please a producer,
Will offer her charms
To elderly arms
And spare him the work to seduce her.
December 27, 2015