politepo‧lite /pəˈlaɪt/ ●●● S3 adjective 
She’s always very polite. polite, well-behaved children a clear but polite requestit is polite (of somebody) to do something We left the party as soon as it was polite to do so. It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full.2you make polite conversation, remarks etc because it is considered socially correct to do this, but not necessarily because you believe what you are sayingpolite remarks/conversation/interest etc While they ate, they made polite conversation about the weather. Jan expressed polite interest in Edward’s stamp collection. I know Ian said he liked her singing, but he was only being polite.3in polite society/circles/company among people who are considered to have a good education and correct social behaviour – often used humorously: You can’t use words like that in polite company.—politely adverb: ‘Can I help you?’ she asked politely.—politeness noun [uncountable]THESAURUSpolite behaving or speaking in a way that is correct for the social situation you are in, and showing that you are careful to consider other people’s needs and feelings: · He was too polite to ask how old she was.· ‘Excuse me, sir,’ she said in a polite voice.well-mannered having good manners and knowing the correct way to behave in social situations: · She was beautifully dressed and very well-mannered.well-behaved polite and not causing any trouble – used about children or animals: · The children were very well-behaved.· Well-behaved dogs are welcome at the hotel.courteous /ˈkɜːtiəs $ ˈkɜːr-/ polite and respectful, and behaving rather formally: · The hotel staff were very courteous and helpful.· a courteous replyrespectful polite and treating someone with respect: · He was very respectful towards all my relatives.· ‘Thank you,’ he said with a respectful bow.civil polite in a formal way, especially when you do not feel very friendly towards someone: · She’d never liked her father-in-law, but she forced herself to be civil to him.· When you’ve stopped arguing, you might be able to have a civil conversation.deferential formal polite towards someone, especially because they are in a more important social position: · In those days women were expected to be deferential to men.
WORD ORIGINpolite
Origin:
1400-1500 Latin past participle of polire; ➔ POLISH1EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a polite smile
- Did you mean what you said about my dress, or were you just being polite?
- He seemed a very polite young man.
- I didn't really care what she thought about the book, but I thought it would be polite to ask her.
- It's not considered polite to ask someone how much they earn.
- She's always extremely polite to me, but I never know what she's really thinking.
- The clerks were very polite and helpful.
- The guests were all very polite about the meal, but inside Joan just wanted to cry.
- The last thing I felt like doing was making polite conversation with my roommate's parents.
- We exchanged polite goodbyes before getting on the train.
- Be brisk, polite, and put the phone down.
- He is polite with them all.
- He was even polite to all his amateur partners.
- However, when you meet Sean Young she's disarmingly polite and looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
- I hope this came across in calm, polite and unthreatening language.
- They were interested, friendly, and much too polite to laugh at behavior they almost certainly felt was peculiar.
- Too polite to object, Helen found herself listening.
THESAURUS
behaving or speaking in a way that is correct for the social situation you are in, and showing that you are careful to consider other people’s needs and feelings: · He was too polite to ask how old she was.· ‘Excuse me, sir,’ she said in a polite voice.
having good manners and knowing the correct way to behave in social situations: · She was beautifully dressed and very well-mannered.
polite and not causing any trouble – used about children or animals: · The children were very well-behaved.· Well-behaved dogs are welcome at the hotel.
polite and respectful, and behaving rather formally: · The hotel staff were very courteous and helpful.· a courteous reply
polite and treating someone with respect: · He was very respectful towards all my relatives.· ‘Thank you,’ he said with a respectful bow.
polite in a formal way, especially when you do not feel very friendly towards someone: · She’d never liked her father-in-law, but she forced herself to be civil to him.· When you’ve stopped arguing, you might be able to have a civil conversation.
formal polite towards someone, especially because they are in a more important social position: · In those days women were expected to be deferential to men.
Longman Language Activatorwords for describing someone who is polite someone who is polite follows the rules of social behaviour and shows respect for other people and their feelings: · He seemed a very polite young man.· a polite requestit is polite to do something: · I didn't really care what she thought about the book, but I thought it would be polite to ask her.· It's not considered polite to ask someone how much they earn.polite to: · She's always extremely polite to me, but I never know what she's really thinking.make polite conversation (=talk politely about unimportant things, especially to someone you do not know very well): · The last thing I felt like doing was making polite conversation with my roommate's parents.
showing proper respect for someone who is older than you, has a higher position than you etc: · They waited in respectful silence as the funeral procession went past.respectful to/towards: · If children were taught to be more respectful towards their elders, maybe these crimes wouldn't happen so often.
polite in a rather formal way, without necessarily being friendly: · I expect a civil answer when I ask you a question.civil to/towards: · I wish you'd be a little more civil towards our guests.
someone who is courteous is polite and considers the needs of other people, especially in formal situations when you do not know the other people well: · Airline staff must be courteous at all times, even when passengers are not.· I received a courteous letter from Jane's mother thanking me for my help.courteous to: · He was always kind and courteous to me, but we never really became friends.
someone who is well-mannered has good manners, and always knows the correct way to behave in social situations: · Henry was a typical Oxford man - well-mannered, easy-going, and very sure of himself.· The children were good little things, well-mannered, and beautifully dressed.
careful not to upset or embarrass someone careful not to mention something that may upset or embarrass someone: · Mandy thought her mother's outfit was a little too fancy, but was too tactful to say so.it is tactful of somebody to do something: · It wasn't very tactful of you to ask whether he'd put on weight.a tactful way of doing something: · "Besides..." Melissa hesitated, trying to think of a tactful way of telling him the truth.
skilful in the way that you deal with other people, and carefully avoiding saying anything that might offend or annoy them: · A good secretary needs to be efficient, and above all diplomatic.· Robson was trying to be as diplomatic as possible - he didn't want to risk losing a promotion.
someone who is discreet is careful not to say anything that will embarrass another person, especially by making sure that secret or private information does not become generally known: · Andrew's very discreet -- he won't tell anyone you're leaving.· We offer a discreet and personal service to our clients.
careful not to offend someone, especially by not being completely honest when telling them what you think about something: · Did you mean what you said about my dress, or were you just being polite?polite about: · The guests were all very polite about the meal, but inside Joan just wanted to cry.
behaving in a very polite and formal way · Our boss is very formal - he doesn't call anyone by their first name.· A lot of people found my father rather formal and aloof, particularly when they first met him.· You shouldn't use "Yours faithfully" - it's much too formal for this kind of letter.
strictly following all of the rules of polite and formal behaviour, even when this is not necessary: · Andrew's marriage proposal was very correct and proper.· One must be correct about these things, mustn't one?
very formal and difficult to talk to, in a way that makes other people feel uncomfortable: · She gives the impression of being rather stiff and unfriendly, but I think that's because she's basically shy.· Their goodbyes were stiff and formal.
polite behaviour · During my stay in Japan, I was treated with great politeness by everyone I met.· American businessmen were surprised that their French colleagues wanted to shake hands each morning, a formal sign of politeness in the US.out of politeness (=simply in order to be polite) · I don't like cake, but I accepted a piece out of politeness.
polite ways of behaving that parents teach their children for situations such as eating, meeting people, or asking for something: · I wish she'd teach that boy of hers some manners!table manners (=behaviour when you eat): · Our kids' table manners are appalling - it's like living in the zoo.
someone who has good manners knows how to behave politely in social situations, for example, when to say 'please' and 'thank you': · My mother was impressed with Tony's good manners.have good manners: · We teach our children to speak correctly and to have good manners, and when they become teenagers they do exactly the opposite.have the good manners to do something: · At least she had the good manners to let us know she would be late.it is good manners (to do something) (=it is polite to do something): · It wouldn't be good manners to leave so soon -- the party has only just started.
polite behaviour that pays attention to the needs of other people, especially people you do not know well: · Businessmen value the service and courtesy offered by traditional hotels.· When you contact a government office, you should receive efficient service and be treated with courtesy.out of courtesy (=simply in order to be polite): · I don't think she wanted us to come and stay with her, she just offered out of courtesy.have the courtesy to do something (=used especially when you are annoyed with someone who has behaved impolitely): · I wish he'd had the courtesy to tell me when he was coming back.
the quality of being polite and careful about what you say, in order to avoid making other people feel embarrassed or upset: · Helping people who have marriage problems requires a great deal of tact and patience.· The old woman thrust a picture of a plain-looking girl into Meryl's hand. "Your granddaughter? She's lovely," said Meryl with tact.
a polite and rather formal way of behaving, which avoids being too friendly: · The following morning, Mr Harrison greeted her with careful formality.· When I re-read my letter I saw that I had written it with a formality that I did not intend.
words for describing children who behave politely and well a well-behaved child is polite and does not cause trouble or make noise: · His older brother was quieter and far better-behaved.· She was a thoughtful, kind, and well-behaved girl.· Their children are so well-behaved it seems almost unnatural.
a child who is good behaves in a polite, obedient and helpful way: · She's a good girl -- I'm sure she won't give you any trouble.· What good children - they went to bed as soon as I told them to!· If you're good you can stay up till eight o'clock tonight.
a child or young adult who is well-brought up always behaves well because their parents have taught them to be polite: · They are well-brought-up children, and have a great respect for their teachers.· David is very well-brought up, but he does have a nasty temper sometimes.
polite, confident, and relaxed, but in an insincere way someone who is smooth , especially a man, has good manners and a relaxed, confident way of talking to people, but in a way that you do not completely trust: · Smooth and charming, Francis was the kind of man your mother would love you to marry.· Don't let his smooth manner fool you - he's just after your money.
very polite, pleasant and stylish, especially in a way that is intended to be attractive to women: · Reginald was suave, handsome and charming.· He was tall and suave, careful in dress, careful in behaviour.
rude/not polite someone who is rude upsets or offends people by not following the rules of good social behaviour and not considering other people's feelings: · What a rude man! He just ignored me when I said "Good morning".· I don't mean to be rude, but could you tell your children to keep quiet?· He's one of the rudest people I've ever met.rude to: · I know you're upset, but there's no need to be rude to your mother.rude about: · Are you being rude about my cooking?it is rude to do something: · It's rude to interrupt people when they are speaking.it is rude of somebody to do something: · I thought it was very rude of her not to answer my letter.
not following the rules of accepted social behaviour, especially when someone does this without realizing it - use this especially about the things that people do or say, rather than about people themselves: · In Senegal it is considered impolite if you do not share your food.· You weren't very polite to her.it is impolite/not polite to do something: · I was tired, but I thought it might not be polite to leave so early.· It is impolite and inconsiderate for people to drop in uninvited.
someone who is tactless upsets or embarrasses someone else, without intending to, by mentioning something that it would be better not to talk about: · I wanted to know about her divorce, but I thought it would be tactless to ask.· She was often tactless and insensitive.· tactless remarks
seeming rude or unkind because you say what you think very directly, so that people are annoyed or offended: · Harris was abrasive and arrogant.· Anson's abrasive personality has landed her in trouble many times in the past.
someone who has bad manners does not behave politely in social situations, for example by not saying "please" and "thank you": · Marilyn apologized for her husband's bad manners.it is bad manners to do something: · It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.
behaving in a rude and unpleasant way, especially because of never having been taught how to be polite: · Her children are incredibly bad-mannered -- she should be more strict with them.· Ill-mannered movie-goers talked and took cell phone calls during the picture. · As soon as some English people go abroad, they seem to change into bad-mannered, insensitive oafs.
formal not behaving in a polite way - use this especially about people's remarks or behaviour: · It would have seemed discourteous to refuse his offer.discourteous to: · He claimed that the officer had been discourteous to him.
to deliberately behave in a rude and unfriendly way towards someone: · He can be very unpleasant when he's in a bad mood.· It isn't necessary to be that unpleasant, Mike.be unpleasant to: · She was shocked at how unpleasant the children were to their mother.
rude, loud, and unpleasant - use this especially about people's behaviour: · The behaviour of some politicians in debates is simply loutish and intimidating.· They considered my boyfriend to be loutish and a bit stupid.· loutish behaviour
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY While they ate, they made polite conversation about the weather. Jan expressed polite interest in Edward’s stamp collection. I know Ian said he liked her singing, but he was only being polite.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
While they ate, they made polite conversation about the weather. Jan expressed polite interest in Edward’s stamp collection. I know Ian said he liked her singing, but he was only being polite.· My request was met with a polite refusal.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Nobody took any notice, but official letters were always polite.
· Most people were polite, but we did find that older people were more polite than younger people.· He became less abrasive, more polite, as he fine-tuned himself in the same way he fine-tuned the company.
· He's such a pleasant man, so polite and helpful.· Always so polite with the Archbishop, a fawning, cloying, false man.· Male speaker I like the countryside and people are so polite over here.· Mind if 1 was so polite.· How could he be so polite when he had been fired by passion only a couple of hours before?· The term among Rugby Union fanatics is not so polite.
· But everyone was too polite to mention it.· Pale-eyed and pink-skinned, he was always too serious, too smart, too polite, too good.· Many of us are too polite to resist their pressure and we end up sacrificing our time to their sales pitch.· We stood squinting into the camera, annoyed at the interruption but too polite to say so.· Unfortunately he was too polite to show him his own front door after half an hour.· Was Theresa ready to look? Too polite to object, Helen found herself listening.· Inder Lal is far too polite to voice his disappointment.· They were interested, friendly, and much too polite to laugh at behavior they almost certainly felt was peculiar.
· She was unfailingly polite and considerate.· I had never realized how lovely they were, how kind, how unfailingly polite.· He is unfailingly polite and tries desperately to understand other people's views.· They are unfailingly polite and far from revolutionary.· Quiet, contained, a trifle prissy-but unfailingly polite.
· Mr Crawley's very polite to her - you know - pretends to respect her and all that.· He nodded, and was very polite and respectful, his usual attitude to his skipper.· He was very polite, however.· The cousins were very polite and in fact charming.· He is very cold when he is angry, very polite and correct.· They are remarkable young people, very polite.· On the whole it is all very polite and good-humoured.· You must always be very polite to the nuns.
NOUN· At the end there was polite applause from perhaps half the women.· This was not a collection that sparked shouts, cheers or even an occasional burst of polite applause.· I stumbled off to polite applause.· He received polite applause from perhaps two in the crowd of about 40.· The keynote speaker had wound up to polite applause.· His strident 30-minute stump speech was interrupted only a couple of times with polite applause.
· Trevor Proby is another, of course, but his notables should not be discussed in polite company.· With sad paradox, Mr Punch himself became the man in the Bateman cartoon, unwelcome in polite company.· It was not the sort of thing you did in polite company.
· This is not the kind of guy who makes polite conversation.· I wanted live action, not polite conversation and chicken cordon bleu.· I decided that I had not come all this way only to indulge in polite conversation.· Even so, there was not much that could be said, other than polite conversation.· All she'd done was to make a bit of polite conversation!· He would acknowledge the source - he was not a plagiarist - but his polite conversation was, he knew, poor.
· The next moment she had her face under control, turning towards the door with a polite smile.· Sabine pinned on a polite smile, and aimed it straight at the oncoming vehicle's windscreen.
· The picture adorned Oz's cover, and outraged polite society.· It was obvious from the scenes that such behavior did not belong in polite society.· Corydon is a shepherd, and Phillario is a sophisticated man accustomed to polite society.· As well as dens and thieves' kitchens like the Bush and Tontine Closes, polite society had its problems also.· Her passion for natural history became increasingly fashionable in polite society during the 17605.· In the good old days of rampant dualism, the mind was rarely mentioned in polite society.· Raymond Williams's assessment of Stephen Duck's collapse as a poet once he entered polite society has already been commented upon.
· It's the polite way of showing you the door.· But such coarse mutilation would not have fitted in with the polite way in which Perrault wished to retell his story.· That's a polite way of putting it, isn't it?· Nevertheless, it is still possible to request co-operation and compliance with the instructions in a polite way.· Show your teeth in a firm but polite way - the thing you're afraid of will then become afraid of you.· This is a polite way of saying that recruitment normally causes chaos in the personnel department.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- You can't use words like that in polite company.
- Her passion for natural history became increasingly fashionable in polite society during the 17605.
- In the good old days of rampant dualism, the mind was rarely mentioned in polite society.
- It was not the sort of thing you did in polite company.
- It was obvious from the scenes that such behavior did not belong in polite society.
- Trevor Proby is another, of course, but his notables should not be discussed in polite company.
- With sad paradox, Mr Punch himself became the man in the Bateman cartoon, unwelcome in polite company.
- You don't talk about things like that in polite society.
- As well as dens and thieves' kitchens like the Bush and Tontine Closes, polite society had its problems also.
- Corydon is a shepherd, and Phillario is a sophisticated man accustomed to polite society.
- Her passion for natural history became increasingly fashionable in polite society during the 17605.
- In the good old days of rampant dualism, the mind was rarely mentioned in polite society.
- It was obvious from the scenes that such behavior did not belong in polite society.
- Raymond Williams's assessment of Stephen Duck's collapse as a poet once he entered polite society has already been commented upon.
- The picture adorned Oz's cover, and outraged polite society.
WORD FAMILYnounpoliteness ≠ impolitenessadjectivepolite ≠ impoliteadverbpolitely ≠ impolitely
1behaving or speaking in a way that is correct for the social situation you are in, and showing that you are careful to consider other people’s needs and feelings OPP rude, impolite: She’s always very polite. polite, well-behaved children a clear but polite requestit is polite (of somebody) to do something We left the party as soon as it was polite to do so. It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full.2you make polite conversation, remarks etc because it is considered socially correct to do this, but not necessarily because you believe what you are sayingpolite remarks/conversation/interest etc While they ate, they made polite conversation about the weather. Jan expressed polite interest in Edward’s stamp collection. I know Ian said he liked her singing, but he was only being polite.3in polite society/circles/company among people who are considered to have a good education and correct social behaviour – often used humorously: You can’t use words like that in polite company.—politely adverb: ‘Can I help you?’ she asked politely.—politeness noun [uncountable]THESAURUSpolite behaving or speaking in a way that is correct for the social situation you are in, and showing that you are careful to consider other people’s needs and feelings: · He was too polite to ask how old she was.· ‘Excuse me, sir,’ she said in a polite voice.well-mannered having good manners and knowing the correct way to behave in social situations: · She was beautifully dressed and very well-mannered.well-behaved polite and not causing any trouble – used about children or animals: · The children were very well-behaved.· Well-behaved dogs are welcome at the hotel.courteous /ˈkɜːtiəs $ ˈkɜːr-/ polite and respectful, and behaving rather formally: · The hotel staff were very courteous and helpful.· a courteous replyrespectful polite and treating someone with respect: · He was very respectful towards all my relatives.· ‘Thank you,’ he said with a respectful bow.civil polite in a formal way, especially when you do not feel very friendly towards someone: · She’d never liked her father-in-law, but she forced herself to be civil to him.· When you’ve stopped arguing, you might be able to have a civil conversation.deferential formal polite towards someone, especially because they are in a more important social position: · In those days women were expected to be deferential to men.- Southern belle
- southerner
- southern hemisphere
- Southern Ireland
- Southern Lights
- southernmost
- Southern States
- Southey, Robert
- South Georgia
- South Glamorgan
- South Island
- South Kensington
- South Korea
- South of France
- South Pacific
- southpaw
- South Pole
- South Sea
- South Sea Bubble
- South Seas
- South Wales
- southward
- southwards
- Southwark
- southwest