Polite

Definition: Polite

Polite

Adjective

1. Showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.

2. Marked by refinement in taste and manners; "cultivated speech"; "cultured Bostonians"; "cultured tastes"; "a genteel old lady"; "polite society".

3. Not rude; marked by satisfactory (or especially minimal) adherence to social usages and sufficient but not noteworthy consideration for others; "even if he didn't like them he should have been civil"- W.S. Maugham.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "polite" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Synonyms: Polite

Courtesy

Render polite; Adjective: polish, civilize, humanize.

Adjective: courteous, polite, civil, mannerly, urbane; well-behaved, well-mannered, well-bred, well-brought up; good-mannered, polished, civilized, cultivated; refined; (taste); gentlemanlike; (fashion); gallant; on one's good behavior.

Cunning

Tactful, diplomatic, politic; polite.

Fashion

Noun: fashion, style, ton, bon ton, society; good society, polite society; monde; drawing-room, civilized life, civilization, town, beau monde, high life, court; world; fashionable world, gay world; Vanity Fair; show; (ostentation).

Adjective: fashionable; in fashion; Noun: a la mode, comme il faut; admitted in society, admissible in society; Noun: presentable; conventional; (customary); genteel; well-bred, well mannered, well behaved, well spoken; gentlemanlike, gentlemanly; ladylike; civil, polite; (courteous).

Impurity

Adjective: impure; unclean; (dirty); not to be mentioned to ears polite; immodest, shameless; indecorous, indelicate, indecent; Fescennine; loose, risque, coarse, gross, broad, free, equivocal, smutty, fulsome, ribald, obscene, bawdy, pornographic.

Inelegance

Adjective: inelegant, graceless, ungraceful; harsh, abrupt; dry, stiff, cramped, formal, guinde; forced, labored; artificial, mannered, ponderous; awkward, uncourtly, unpolished; turgid; affected, euphuistic; barbarous, uncouth, grotesque, rude, crude, halting; offensive to ears polite.

Language

Literature, letters, polite literature, belles lettres, muses, humanities, literae humaniores, republic of letters, dead languages, classics; genius of language; scholarship; (scholar).

Crosswords: Polite

And since I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite. (Die Hard; writing credit: Jeb Stuart)

So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome (The Beach; writing credit: John Hodge)

You know, it's polite for the first person downstairs to make coffee, even it that person has a penis (Six Feet Under; writing credit: David Starkey)

No, the gun man was very polite. (Carpool; writing credit: Don Rhymer)

It isn't polite to assume that someone is a liar when you've only just met them (Ladyhawke; writing credit: Edward Khmara)

Need a man that's polite, listens and takes advice (Hey Ma; performing artist: Cam'ron)

So polite, you're busy still saying please (You Get What You Give; performing artist: New Radicals)

I'll be quite polite (Rock DJ; performing artist: Robbie Williams)

And then your friend says, Mama, he's just being polite ("Rapper's Delight"; performing artist: Sugarhill Gang)

Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited until you try to sit in their pews. (references; author: unknown)

The Polite Parson (1909)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727-1783 (New Oxford History of England) (reference)

• Civil Tongues & Polite Letters in British America (reference)

• Goops and How to Be Them: A Manual of Manners for Polite Children (reference)

• Polite Fictions: Why Japanese and Americans Seem Rude to Each Other (reference)

• Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Cultures (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Be Political, Not Polite (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The polite hackman. Credit: Library of Congress.

Mathews & Bulger in the polite comic play At gay Coney Island by Levin C. Tees. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

He smiled habitually as a matter of business, and tried to be polite to everybody, even to the beggar to whom he refused a penny

The name of the hotel, a colourless polished wood, and its colourless quiet front stung him like a glance of polite disdain

This he might safely do, because every thing about him was magnificent, regular, and polite.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Business

It is polite to accept a drink with your host. (references)

Economic History

Ghana

People are extremely polite; it is customary to greet everyone you meet. (references)

Travel

Yemen

Delay is a favorite tactic, but it can also be a polite refusal. (references)

Switzerland

Allowing ample lead time in setting up business appointments is also considered polite; one should not expect to "drop in" without an appointment on a business acquaintance. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Expressions using "polite": become polite ♦ do the polite ♦ do the polite thing ♦ he is the reverse of polite ♦ make polite ♦ offensive to ears polite ♦ polite arts ♦ polite letters ♦ polite phrase ♦ polite society. Additional references.

Ending with "polite": over-polite.

Afrikaans

beleef (courteous, experience, go through, live, live through, live to see, survive, well-mannered). (various references)

Albanian

xhentil (courteous, kind), njerëzor (courteous, earthborn, fleshly, human), i sjellshëm (amiable, bland, complaisant, courteous, courtly, delicate, discreet, fair-spoken, gallant, genteel, good, kind, kindly, mannerly, nice, suave, well bred, well mannered, well-behaved), i njerëzishëm (bland, courteous, human, humane, urbane), i lëmuar (ganoid, glace, glib, highbred, nice, polished, refined, sleek, sleeken, sleeky, slick, smooth, smooth-faced, soft, unruffled, waxy, well mannered), i edukuar (educated, fair-spoken, highbred, ladylike, mannerly, thoroughbred, trained, well bred, well educated, well-conducted). (various references)

Arabic 

‏كيس (bag, budget, capsule, courteous, cyst, elegant, encyst, graceful, pocket, pouch, sac, sack), ‏مهذب (civil, civilized, corrected, courteous, cultivated, cultured, discipliner, educated, educator, fair-spoken, gentleman, mannerly, polished, preceptor, purified, rectified, refined, respectable, teacher, urbane, well bred, well mannered), ‏مؤدب (educated, gallant, gentleman, kind, kindly, mannerly, preceptor, urbane), ‏لطيف (affable, agreeable, amiable, benign, bland, charming, civil, civilized, complaisance, complaisant, courteous, courtly, decent, delicate, fair, fair-spoken, fine, friendly, genial, gentle, good natured, gracious, handsome, kind, kindly, light, mild, nice, pet, pleasant, poppet, pretty, refreshing, smooth, soft, suave, sweet, tender, tenuous, thin, urbane), ‏رفيع (astral, elevated, fine, great, sublime, superlative, supreme, thin). (various references)

Bulgarian 

учтив (attentive, civil, courteous, fair-spoken, forthcoming, mannerly, suave, urbane, well mannered), културен (accomplished, cultural, cultured, highbrow), вежлив (affable, thoughtful, urbane), любезен (accommodating, affable, agreeable, amiable, bland, complaisant, courteous, debonair, fair, fair-spoken, friendly, gentle, gracious, kind, mellow, nice, obliging, pleasant, smooth, smooth spoken, smooth tongued, smooth-faced, soft spoken, urbane, well spoken), изтънчен (cool, dainty, delicate, discriminating, fastidious, fine, polished, refined, subtle, urbane), изискан (accomplished, classic, discerning, distinguished, elegant, exact, exquisite, gracious, neat, nice, polished, precise, recherche, refined, tasteful, urbane, well-rounded). (various references)

Chinese 

礼貌 (Courtesies, Courtesy, Politeness), 有禮貌 (courteous, politeness), 客氣 . (various references)

Czech

zdvořilý (civil, civil-spoken, courteous, fair-spoken, gracious, respectful, suave, well mannered, well spoken), uhlazený (courtly, genteel, graceful, mannerly, refined, sleek, slick, urbane), slušný (becoming, civilized, clean, decent, equitable, fair, good, presentable, proper, reasonable, respectable, seemly, white), kultivovaný (accomplished, civilized, cultivated, cultured, gracious, sophisticated). (various references)

Danish

høflig (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

Dutch

wellevend (courteous, well-mannered), welgemanierd (courteous, well-mannered), beschaafd (accomplished, civilized, courteous, gentlemanlike, ladylike, well-mannered). (various references)

Esperanto

bonmaniera (courteous, well-mannered), ĝentila (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

Faeroese

fólkaligur (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

Farsi 

مبادی اداب (Tactful), بانزاکت (Tactful), باادب (Courteous, Housebroken, Respectful). (various references)

Finnish

kohtelias (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

French

poli (polished), courtois. (various references)

German

höflich (bland, blandly, civil, civilly, complimentarily, complimentary, cordial, cordially, courteous, debonair, fairspoken, politely, unrude, urbane, urbanely, well-mannered). (various references)

Greek 

ευγενικόσ (amiable, civil, complaisant, considerate, courteous, courtly, genteel, gracious, kind, mannerly, urbane), ευγενικός (considerate about, genteel, gentle, kind), ευγενήσ (civil, courteous, courtly, debonair, gallant, genteel, gentle, gentlemanly, gracious, kindly, ladylike, nobble, nobleman, patrician, soulful, thoroughbred, urbane, well mannered). (various references)

Hebrew 

אדיב (affable, civil, courteous, gallant, genial, gracious, kind, kindly, mannerly, obliging, suave, well mannered). (various references)

Hungarian

udvarias (affable, bland, civil, civil-spoken, complacent, complaisant, courteous, courtly, fair-spoken, mannerly, neighborly, neighbourly, obliging, to be gracious to sy, to wrap up his censure in a polite formula, urbane, well-mannered). (various references)

Icelandic

kurteis (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

Indonesian

sopan santun (courteous, good-breeding, pudicity), sopan (decent, genteel, gentlemanly, urbane), senonoh (proper), santun (decent, genteel, gentlemanly), beradab (civilized, cultured, urbane). (various references)

Irish

múinte. (various references)

Italian

cortese (accommodating, affable, bland, complaisant, courteous, friendly, good-natured, gracious, kind, mannerly, neighborly, neighbourly, obliging, respectful, urbane, well-mannered), educato (civilly, courteous, educated, unrude, well behaved, well mannered). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

丁寧 (care, careful, close, courteous, kind). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

れいぎただしい, ていねい (care, careful, close, conscientious, courteous, kind, thorough), ていちょう (captain, courteous, dullness, hospitable, inactive, low tide, low tone, slack, slow, sluggish, undertone, weakness). (various references)

Korean 

공손한. (various references)

Malay

sopan (courteous, well-mannered), adab ... beradab (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

Manx

cooyrtoil (courteous, courtly, refined). (various references)

Norwegian

høflig (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

Papiamen

gentil (courteous, well-mannered), galante (courteous, well-mannered). (various references)

Pig Latin

olitepay.(various references)

Portuguese

polido (attentive, cleanly cut, courtly, gentle, glossy, mannerly, neat, net, polished, precise, shiny, sleek, sleeky, smooth, specular, urbane, well-bred, well-spoken), cortês (chivalrous, civil, complimentary, courteous, debonair, mannerly, neighborly, neighbourly, parliamentary, respectful, soft, suave, urbane, well-bred). (various references)

Portuguese Brazilian

educada (educated). (various references)

Romanian

politicos (attentive, civil, complaisant, complimentary, considerate, courteous, fair, genteel, gentlemanlike, mannerly, parliamentary, politely, respectful, well bred), gentil (amiable, courteous, gentle, politely), galant (chivalrous, courteous, gallant, gallantly, generous, gentle, swaggering), elegant (daintily, dainty, Dandy, dashing, dressy, elegant, fashionable, gallant, genteel, gentle, graceful, gracefully, jaunty, smart, smartly, smug, spicy, stylish, swell, tasty, well-dressed), clasic (ancient, classic, classical, classically, classicist, ideally, recognized, standard), amabil (affable, agreeable, amiable, amiably, bland, considerate, courteous, decent, endearing, fair, favorable, favourable, genial, good natured, good tempered, gracious, kind, kindly, lovable, obliging, obligingly, politely, sweet-tempered). (various references)

Russian 

вежливый (affable, attentive, bland, courteous, courtly, fair-spoken, mannerly, parliamentary, respectful, urbane). (various references)

Scottish

modhail (mannerly). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

vaspitan, uglađen (genteel, polished, refined, sleek, slick, smooth, suave, trim), učtiv (affable, bland, civilized, courteous, respectful, urbane, well mannered, well spoken, well-behaved). (various references)

Spanish

cortés (attentive, civil, complaisant, courteous, courtly, debonair, gallant, genteel, gracious, mannerly, suave, urbane, well bred, well mannered, well-mannered), educado (cult, educated, mannerly, trained, well mannered). (various references)

Swedish

hövlig (civil, courteous, fair-spoken, well-mannered), artig (chivalrous, civil, civil-spoken, courteous, courtly, couth, fair-spoken, gallant, gentle, mannerly, well-mannered). (various references)

Turkish

terbiyeli (blushing, civil-spoken, decent, decorous, mannerly, proper, seasoned, well mannered, well-behaved), nazik (affable, attentive, brittle, civil, civilized, civil-spoken, complaisant, considerate, courteous, dainty, debonair, debonaire, decent, delicate, distingue, Douce, eggshell, exquisite, fair, genteel, gentle, gracious, kid glove, kind, mannerly, mild, obliging, parliamentary, polished, suave, sweet-natured, tender, ticklish, tickly, touchy, trickish, tricky, urbane, well disposed), kibar (aristocratic, aristocratical, attentive, blancmange, bland, chivalrous, civil, civilized, courteous, courtly, distingue, Douce, elegant, exquisite, fashionable, gallant, genteel, gentle, kid glove, mild, nice, parliamentary, polished, refined, sharp, urbane, well born, well disposed, well mannered), ince (attenuate, attic, brittle, civilized, courteous, dainty, delicate, fine, fragile, graceful, gracile, gracious, keen, lean, nice, precision, refined, scarious, sharp, slender, slim, subtile, subtle, sylphish, sylphlike, sylphy, tenuous, thin, trickish, tricksy, tricky, urbane, vaporous). (various references)

Turkmen 

edepli (well-bred). (various references)

Ukrainian

ввічливий (affable, bland, civil, complaisant, conventional, courteous, courtly, debonair, diplomatic, discreet, mannerly, respectful, suave, urbane), вишуканий (accomplished, ambitious, becoming, chic, choice, courtly, dainty, delicate, distinguished, dressmaker, exquisite, fine, foppish, kid glove, minion, nice, nutty, polished, precious, quaint, recherche, trim, way up), люб'язний (accommodating, affable, amiable, attentive, complaisant, courteous, dear, good, kind, nice, obliging). (various references)

Vietnamese 

lễ phép, có lễ độ; lịch sự. (various references)

Welsh

moesgar (mannerly), llysaidd (courtly). (various references)

delicata, delicatae, delicate, delicati, delicatum, delicatus, politus. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations

Words beginning with "polite": politely, politeness, politenesses, politer, politesse, politesses, politest. (additional references)

Words ending with "polite": cosmopolite, impolite, scapolite, superpolite, unpolite. (additional references)

Words containing "polite": cosmopolites, impolitely, impoliteness, impolitenesses, scapolites. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Polite" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: eolite, Noltie, norlite, pabloite, palite, Palito, Pavlita, pelike, Pelite, pelliti, pliet, plite, ploit, Plotke, Poblete, Pohive, poite, Polartex, polate, polates, Polatom, poldie, poleta, Poletti, poliate, poliet, polire, polit, Politeia, polites, politia, Politiek, polizei, pollit, Pollitts, polte, Polten, poltice, poltis, polute, Polyatom, Polybe, polyt, Polytech, Polytel, pooit, popiwek, popliteal, potile, pulate, pulit. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: piolet.

-1 letter: pilot, teloi, toile.

-2 letters: lept, lipe, lite, lope, loti, pelt, pile, plie, plot, poet, pole, tile, toil, tole, tope, topi.

-3 letters: lei, let, lie, lip, lit, lop, lot, oil, ole, ope, opt, pet, pie, pit, poi, pol, pot, tel, tie, til, tip, toe, top.

-4 letters: el, et, it, li, lo, oe, op, pe, pi.

+1 letter: exploit, hoplite, petiole, piloted, piolets, pistole, poitrel, politer, potlike, potline, topline.

+2 letters: antipole, epicotyl, exploits, helicopt, heliport, helistop, hoplites, impolite, isopleth, lepidote, leprotic, leptonic, lipocyte, loopiest, loppiest, milepost, oppilate, petaloid, petiolar, petioled, petioles, petrolic, pilewort, pilotage, pisolite, pistoled, pistoles, plotline, plottier, plotties, poetical, poetlike, poitrels, polemist, politely, politest, polities, portlier, potlines, poultice, spoliate, terpinol, tholepin, toplines, unpolite.