Log in or Sign up
gentlemanly love

gentlemanly

Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Like a gentleman; being or befitting a gentleman, or a man of good birth or good breeding, or both; polite; complaisant: as, a gentlemanly officer; gentlemanly manners.
  • Synonyms Manly, Manful, etc. See masculine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of, being, pertaining to, or resembling a gentleman or gentlemen.
  • adverb In the manner or with the behavior of a gentleman; with social grace, politely.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective befitting a man of good breeding

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From gentleman +‎ -ly.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word gentlemanly.

Examples

  • He did not mind their sowing of wild oats if they were what he called gentlemanly wild oats, and merely got them talked about as gay young dogs, and he was always generous with an extra cheque if they got into difficulties; but he would not have foolhardy, quixotic affairs at all.

    The Rhodesian Gertrude Page 1897

  • Almost the exact contemporary of Wordsworth and Coleridge, Lawrence was, like them, a "natural genius from the provinces", although, unlike them, he soon learned to conceal this in gentlemanly mannerisms.

    Thomas Lawrence: The new romantic – review Richard Holmes 2010

  • It may be repugnant to one to have people you know and trust be accused of committing a crime — that may not be done in gentlemanly society — but counting on gentlemanly diffidence among members of the elite assures, at least to me, that the hard questions do not getasked.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Reminder about VC March Madness Tourney: 2010

  • So in gentlemanly fashion, we help the ladies up, and preferably, lots of ladies, and we call it what it is, a Party on the Roof.

    Matthew Yglesias » Endgame 2010

  • A school of four languages in bracing air, if a school with healthy dormitories, and a school of the trained instincts we call gentlemanly, might suit Master Bobby for a trial.

    Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868

  • A school of four languages in bracing air, if a school with healthy dormitories, and a school of the trained instincts we call gentlemanly, might suit Master Bobby for a trial.

    Lord Ormont and His Aminta — Volume 5 George Meredith 1868

  • A school of four languages in bracing air, if a school with healthy dormitories, and a school of the trained instincts we call gentlemanly, might suit Master Bobby for a trial.

    Lord Ormont and His Aminta — Complete George Meredith 1868

  • However the word gentlemanly may be defined, it will not be questioned that the quality which it describes is sympathetic regard for the feelings of others and the manner which evinces it.

    Ars Recte Vivendi; Being Essays Contributed to "The Easy Chair" George William Curtis 1858

  • No more high-head carryin ', gentlemanly airs, and dictionary talk; breaking hosses in ain't wuth a cent to a nigger, he added with a malicious leer.

    Winona: A Tale of Negro Life in the South and Southwest Pauline Elizabeth 1902

  • How scornful she had been of his excessive indulgence in all the so-called gentlemanly pleasures of wine, women and gambling.

    The Outrageous Dowager Westleigh, Sarah 1996

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.