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/pəlˈaɪtnəs/ Listen

noun

Politeness n.

High finish; smoothness; burnished elegance. (R.)

The quality or state of being polite; refinement of manners; urbanity; courteous behavior; complaisance; obliging attentions.

Synonyms: Courtesy; good breeding; refinement; urbanity; courteousness; affability; complaisance; civility; gentility; courtliness. Politeness, Courtesy. Politeness denotes that ease and gracefulness of manners which first sprung up in cities, connected with a desire to please others by anticipating their wants and wishes, and studiously avoiding whatever might give them pain. Courtesy is, etymologically, the politeness of courts. It displays itself in the address and manners; it is shown more especially in receiving and entertaining others, and is a union of dignified complaisance and kindness.

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Etymology of 'Politeness'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Politeness" Quotes from Famous Books

... gets quite chivalrous in his description: "He ought to touch his hat to his opponent with whom he was about to engage in mortal combat."[BM] After which remark he communicates two pieces of information—the one as true as the other is modest: "Politeness is deemed lessening to the position of a gentleman in England; in America it is thought his proudest boast." Of course he only alludes to manner; his writings prove at every page that genuine American feeling dispenses with it in language. His politeness, I suppose, may be described in ...

— Lands of the Slave and the Free - Cuba, The United States, and Canada • Henry A. Murray

... flourish. This did not operate to cool my antagonist's temper; indeed, I am forced to confess that this was not exactly the way to subdue his ire. I am sorry to say that Ham used some naughty words, which politeness will not permit me to repeat. Then he rushed forward with redoubled energy, and I gave him another crack with the whip, which hit him in the tenderest part ...

— Down The River - Buck Bradford and His Tyrants • Oliver Optic

... Having done this, and being in a fine humor after this his first success, he turned to the two ladies. "And this, ladies," said he, taking our hero by the hand and presenting him, "is a young gentleman who has embarked with me to learn the trade of piracy. I recommend him to your politeness." ...

— Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates • Howard Pyle

... my arrival I waited on the governor, and gave him my letters; he rec'd me with great politeness and ordered a meeting of Council the next day in order to consult where I should pitch upon a tract of land suitable for such a Grand Settlement, for it is looked upon as the most Respectable of any in the province, and I must say that ...

— Glimpses of the Past - History of the River St. John, A.D. 1604-1784 • W. O. Raymond

... people despise life, but in me, and in such as with me are free from dyspepsia, and to whom a day is a sound and solid good, it is a great excess of politeness to look scornful and to cry for company. I am grown by sympathy a little eager and sentimental, but leave me alone and I should relish every hour and what it brought me, the potluck of the day, as heartily as the oldest ...

— Essays, Second Series • Ralph Waldo Emerson

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