Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A word or expression thought by its user to be more refined than another, as in expectorate for spit.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a nicer
word used instead of avulgar ordistasteful word
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Thus, a British visitor to the United States, Thomas C. Grattan, felt it necessary to translate the genteelism for readers of his Civilized America 1872: "And some of them would scarcely hesitate to ask for the breast of a chicken, though almost all call it 'white meat,' in contradistinction to the 'dark meat,' as all ladies and gentlemen designate the legs of poultry."
Hugh Rawson: More Fowl Talk for the Holidays Hugh Rawson 2010
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Thus, a British visitor to the United States, Thomas C. Grattan, felt it necessary to translate the genteelism for readers of his Civilized America 1872: "And some of them would scarcely hesitate to ask for the breast of a chicken, though almost all call it 'white meat,' in contradistinction to the 'dark meat,' as all ladies and gentlemen designate the legs of poultry."
Hugh Rawson: More Fowl Talk for the Holidays Hugh Rawson 2010
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If you're going to call bs on the senate, well lets level the playing field and treat our language for what it is, and exclude the phony formalities of genteelism.
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Tomlinson and all his Middleberg VA horsefarm phony genteelism–funny how quick these guys are to make lots of money off their government connections….
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That ghastly genteelism … “for Alain and I,” tells it all: Miss Saigon is a show for people who say ‘for you and I,’ but not for me.
TalkTalk E. L. Konigsburg 1995
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That ghastly genteelism … “for Alain and I,” tells it all: Miss Saigon is a show for people who say ‘for you and I,’ but not for me.
TalkTalk E. L. Konigsburg 1995
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Many shop words, of course, are good old English ones which have fallen into genteelism and disrepute.
Try Anything Twice 1938
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I once met a Belgian girl who was forbidden at home to utter the word pudeur ` shame 'because it could be construed as a genteelism for ` genitals.'
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German Trulle ` prostitute '] contemptuous. unfortunate used of outcasts generally, whether prostitutes, prisoners, or other pariahs. unfortunate female like the preceding entry, a genteelism. unfortunate woman like the preceding entry, a genteelism.
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