deferential

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“
This, on the heels of his deep bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (the Queen of England merited what can at best be described as a deferential nod).

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. adjective Marked by or exhibiting deference.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • With the bronze man she was reserved, deferential, apparently a little awed You are sure," she asked the guards uneasily, "that the drug has his legs helpless They said they were sure. —  055 - The Feathered Octopus
  • His treatment of her was more than affectionate—it was courteous and deferential, after the manner of men who had ancestors who were knights of the olden time. —  Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Painters
  • They were unusually quiet and deferential, as if they would just as soon not be noticed anyway. —  SexyBeastII
  • The servants were deft without being particularly deferential, and I had the impression everyone in the royal palace was quite fond of their young ruler. —  Kushiel’s Avatar
  • He nodded in a manner that could only be described as deferential, and walked on to meet them. —  TheCaridesPregnancy
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (1)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French déférential, from Latin as if *deferentialis, from deferentia, from deferen(t-)s, present participle of deferre: see deferent, deference.
 

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/dɛfəˈrɛnʃəl/
by American Heritage

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