Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Characterized by gracious consideration toward others. See Synonyms at polite.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having court-like or elegant manners; using or characterized by courtesy; well-bred; polite: as, a courteous gentleman; courteous words; a courteous manner of address.
- Synonyms Civil, Urbane, etc. (see polite), obliging, affable, attentive, respectful.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of courtlike manners; pertaining to, or expressive of, courtesy; characterized by courtesy; civil; obliging; well bred; polite; affable; complaisant.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. exhibiting courtesy and politeness
- adj. characterized by courtesy and gracious good manners
Etymologies
- From Middle English courteous ("courtly"), from Old French cort ("court"), from Latin, displaced native Old English hende ("courteous, gracious, friendly"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English corteis, courtly, from Old French, from cort, court; see court. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“If that's what you call courteous, I'd hate to see what you consider rude.”
“Thanking Mufamadi for what he described as courteous and friendly talks, Gibson expressed the hope of future co-operation in an effort to combat crime.”
“Rule 6: A blanket rule; being courteous is probably applicable in most f2f and online situations.”
“Yet before engaging in courteous battle of wits with the Welsh Windbag, I had seen the famous Silk pacing the small Robing Room at Lincoln Castle wracked with nerves before going into bat against an acknowledged second-rater of a judge.”
“So the trader went up to her in courteous wise and saw that she was wondrous beautiful and loveable, especially as she knew the Arabic tongue; and he said to the”
“Then he bared his head in courteous acknowledgement of youth and beauty, with an apology for his seeming intrusion.”
“Be affable and courteous is youth, that you may be honored in age.”
A Manual of Etiquette with Hints on Politeness and Good Breeding
“In the online post, Liu was described as courteous and hardworking.”
“For myself, I pledge to remain courteous about the issue, and conscious of other people’s desires to experience a movie or a book for the first time for themselves …. so long as it is a NEW movie or a book.”
What do we know and when do we want to know it? at SF Novelists
“Go to yonder youth who eateth of the rice and bring him to me in courteous guise, saying: ‘Answer the summons of the”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘courteous’.
-
EN - eesily missspellable wirds
accessible, accommodate, achievement, acquaintance, address, advertisement, alleged, athletics, attendance, auxiliary, believe, challenge and 118 more...
-
jan_21
magoosh listens
infuriating, imperciptible, sporadic, galvanize, shirk, protean, versatile, auspicious, clairvoyance, nary, presentiment, qualm and 63 more...
-
the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
-
princeton review
jubilance, obtrusive, maladjusted, prodigious, incredulous, stolidity, inured, stoicism, sidereal, boisterous, etiolated, circumscribed and 90 more...
-
Beknownst1981's list
I love words, especially the ones I make up with my friends.
translucent meat ..., beknownst (knew), plethora, curmudgeon, wanderlust, actually, differentiate, bearded, hobbit feet, female, sexy time, librarian and 220 more...
-
G & G
GRE , GMAT , TOEFL , IELTS , SAT 。。。
alphabet soup, vernacular, aberrant, abeyance, abet, recant, contrite, reiterate, patois, skew, senate, deliberative and 179 more...
-
Gre words
a list of the words i HAVE to know..
calumny, demagogue, filigree, quandary, peregrination, quotidian, puerile, cogent, corroborate, martinet, inhibited, polyglot and 105 more...
-
my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
-
Scriptie: The Fellowship of the Ring
the world is changed, much that once wa..., great rings, immortal, dwarf lords, miners, craftsmen, three, seven, nine, deceived, dark lord and 216 more...
-
@vcb.etym.prjct - SAT PT #5 (new bk)
inane, scrutinze, attended, testify to, jeopardize, sustain, plentiful, ornate, multifarious, catalogue, anachronistic, extrapolate and 89 more...
-
The C Word
The next time someone uses the phrase "C Word" ask them if they mean any of the ones on this list. Suggestions Welcome! I'm looking for words that could be used to describe other people, especially...
crotch, communist, cranky, crabby, cantankerous, capricious, cranium, covert, corrupt, charming, cunning, curmudgeonly and 42 more...
-
moleofproduction's Words
liminal, erudite, disconcur, defenestration, marxian, courteous, narcincest, heuristic, ruffian, bagatelle, portmanteau, bloviate
-
just vocab
courteous, sincere, confident, subordination, non-discriminary, knowledgeable, persuasive, inclined, overconfident, arrogant, presumptuous, goodwill and 29 more...
-
Weekly list(22-29/08/2010)
littering, to litter, attain, coherently, evolve, fundemental, illustrate, imply, portion, commute, alike, bunk and 11 more...
-
SAT Words That Mean 'Pleasant'
A list of positive SAT words that mean 'pleasant.' Based on Gruber's SAT Word Master word list. Categorizing words by meaning can help you to memorize more effectively.
affable, amiable, agreeable, captivating, congenial, cordial, courteous, decorous, engaging, gracious, obliging, sportive and 2 more...
-
Folklore's Words
sesquipedalian, cherubim, carafe, oubliette, sacroiliac, onomatopoeia, irregardless, tiramisu, draconic, flibbertigibbet, pantheon, lachrymose and 59 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for courteous.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.