What does polite mean?
Definitions for polite
pəˈlaɪtpo·lite
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word polite.
Princeton's WordNet
politeadjective
showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.
civilized, civilised, cultivated, cultured, genteel, politeadjective
marked by refinement in taste and manners
"cultivated speech"; "cultured Bostonians"; "cultured tastes"; "a genteel old lady"; "polite society"
civil, politeadjective
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
Wiktionary
politeadjective
Well-mannered, civilized.
politeadjective
Smooth, polished, burnished.
Etymology: From politus, past participle of polire; see polish.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
POLITEadjective
Etymology: politus, Latin.
Some of them are diaphanous, shining and polite; others not polite, but as if powder’d over with fine iron dust. John Woodward.
If any sort of rays, falling on the polite surface of any pellucid medium, be reflected back, the fits of easy reflexion, which they have at the point of reflexion, shall still continue to return. Isaac Newton, Opticks.
The edges of the sand holes, being worn away, there are left all over the glass a numberless company of very little convex polite risings like waves. Isaac Newton, Opticks.
A nymph of quality admires our knight,
He marries, bows at court, and grows polite. Alexander Pope.
ChatGPT
polite
Polite refers to showing good manners, consideration and respect towards others, typically in social settings or situations. It may entail being courteous, behaving in a civilized manner, demonstrating cultural etiquette, using respectful language, or refraining from offensive, rude, or inappropriate behaviors and comments.
Webster Dictionary
Polite
smooth; polished
Polite
smooth and refined in behavior or manners; well bred; courteous; complaisant; obliging; civil
Polite
characterized by refinement, or a high degree of finish; as, polite literature
Politeverb
to polish; to refine; to render polite
Freebase
Polite
Polite is a semi-regular general interest and humor magazine published in the United States. Its tagline is "Generally interesting."
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Polite
pō-līt′, adj. polished: smooth: refined: well-bred: obliging.—adv. Polite′ly.—ns. Polite′ness, state or quality of being polite: refinement of manners: good-breeding; Politesse′, politeness. [L. politus, pa.p. of polīre.]
Editors Contribution
Polite
To have good manners and to show respect to everyone.
The little girl was very polite and respected her elders.
Submitted by JP03 on October 30, 2014
Suggested Resources
polite
Song lyrics by polite -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by polite on the Lyrics.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
POLITE
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Polite is ranked #8067 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Polite surname appeared 4,108 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Polite.
78.1% or 3,209 total occurrences were Black.
14.6% or 603 total occurrences were White.
3.2% or 133 total occurrences were of two or more races.
2.2% or 94 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
1.1% or 46 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
0.5% or 23 total occurrences were Asian.
British National Corpus
Adjectives Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'polite' in Adjectives Frequency: #920
Anagrams for polite »
piolet
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of polite in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of polite in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of polite in a Sentence
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble:
We were both friendly and polite ... He told me his position, which he has repeatedly said in recent days, and I tried to explain our position to him and we were not able to bridge the differences.
Jason Cid did this in the hopes of showing how overly aggressive police officers are when they respond to these calls. As you can see from the video, my officers responded and were polite and professional as they investigated the fictitious situation that was created by Jason Cid and his accomplices. Jason Cid hoped to show you out of control cops harassing three young men. But what they got were courteous, polite and professional law enforcement officers who investigated the suspicious activity that they themselves created.
Man is the only animal that learns by being hypocritical. He pretends to be polite and then, eventually, he becomes polite.
Man is the only animal that learns by being hypocritical. He pretends to be polite and then, eventually, he _becomes_ polite.
It’s kind of bizarre, I’ve never known anyone to (allegedly) do something like this before. It’s crazy to have interacted with someone like that. The last time I saw him was probably in about June of 2011, and he seemed fine. I just remember him being really nice, very polite.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for polite
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- beleefdAfrikaans
- مؤدب, مهذبArabic
- nəzakətliAzerbaijani
- ветлівыBelarusian
- учтивBulgarian
- cortèsCatalan, Valencian
- zdvořilý, slušnýCzech
- høfligDanish
- höflichGerman
- ευγενικόςGreek
- ĝentilaEsperanto
- cortés, educadoSpanish
- viisakasEstonian
- مؤدبPersian
- kohteliasFinnish
- poliFrench
- cùirteil, modhail, suaircScottish Gaelic
- מנומסHebrew
- सभ्यHindi
- udvariasHungarian
- քաղաքավարիArmenian
- sopanIndonesian
- kurteisIcelandic
- cortese, educatoItalian
- 礼儀正しい, 丁寧Japanese
- თავაზიანიGeorgian
- គួរសម, ចេះគួរសមKhmer
- 공손Korean
- ສຸພາບLao
- mandagus, mandagiLithuanian
- pieklājīga, pieklājīgsLatvian
- учтивMacedonian
- sopanMalay
- beleefdDutch
- høfligNorwegian
- uprzejmy, grzecznyPolish
- educado, polido, cortêsPortuguese
- politicoRomanian
- учтивый, вежливыйRussian
- одгојен, уљудан, uljudan, učtiv, учтив, odgojenSerbo-Croatian
- slušný, zdvorilýSlovak
- vljudenSlovene
- hövlig, artigSwedish
- பண்பட்டTamil
- สุภาพThai
- nazik, kibarTurkish
- ввічливий, чемнийUkrainian
- muyolim, odobliUzbek
- lịch sự, lể phépVietnamese
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"polite." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 11 Dec. 2023. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/polite>.
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