Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Marked by or exhibiting deference.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Expressing or characterized by deference; respectful in manner.
  • In anatomy, conveying away or carrying off; specifically, pertaining to the vas deferens, or deferent duct of the testes.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Expressing deference; accustomed to defer.

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

  • adjective respectful and considerate; showing deference
  • adjective anatomy of, or relating to the vas deferens

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

  • adjective showing deference

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He reached forward and, head bowed in deferential respect, he made so as to lift the holy book, and it yielded to his purity and righteousness, and opened for him.

    365 tomorrows » 2008 » December : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2008

  • He reached forward and, head bowed in deferential respect, he made so as to lift the holy book, and it yielded to his purity and righteousness, and opened for him.

    365 tomorrows » Divine Revelation : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2008

  • The word deferential seems like a negative for me, as though she was telling me I was passive, too quiet or not as strong as other supervisors.

    Ask Amy 2010

  • She composed her features into what she hoped was an expression of deferential alertness.

    The Mistaken Wife Rose Melikan 2010

  • She composed her features into what she hoped was an expression of deferential alertness.

    The Mistaken Wife Rose Melikan 2010

  • She composed her features into what she hoped was an expression of deferential alertness.

    The Mistaken Wife Rose Melikan 2010

  • His strongly gentle features held an expression of deferential respect without being ingratiating.

    Touch the Wind Janet Dailey 1986

  • His strongly gentle features held an expression of deferential respect without being ingratiating.

    Touch the Wind Janet Dailey 1986

  • In a brief couple of paragraphs she talks about the novel’s opening scene and points to Fitzgerald’s unusual use of the word deferential and notes how the phrase “rotted like water lilies among the massed pines” evokes what “will come to seem increasingly applicable to much of what happens in a novel that is partly about the dissolution and decay of romance and beauty.”

    2007 June 15 « Exile on Ninth Street 2007

  • In a brief couple of paragraphs she talks about the novel’s opening scene and points to Fitzgerald’s unusual use of the word deferential and notes how the phrase “rotted like water lilies among the massed pines” evokes what “will come to seem increasingly applicable to much of what happens in a novel that is partly about the dissolution and decay of romance and beauty.”

    2007 June « Exile on Ninth Street 2007

Comments

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  • "His face assumes a deferential expression..." Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

    October 17, 2010

  • showing respect

    If you ever have the chance to meet the president, stand up straight and be deferential.

    October 15, 2016