1590s, "fashionably elegant; suitable to polite society, characteristic of a lady or gentleman; decorous in manners or behavior," from Middle French gentil "stylish, fashionable, elegant; nice, graceful, pleasing," from Old French gentil "high-born, noble" (11c.); a reborrowing (with evolved senses) of the French word that had early come into English as gentle (q.v.), with French pronunciation and stress preserved to emphasize the distinction. The Latin source of the French word is the ancestor of English gentile, but the main modern meaning of that word is from a later Scriptural sense in Latin. See also jaunty. OED 2nd ed. reports genteel "is now used, except by the ignorant, only in mockery" (a development it dates from the 1840s).
实用例句
1. Her genteel accent irritated me.
她那矫揉造作的腔调使我感到难受。
来自《权威词典》
2. She always talks in such a genteel voice when she's on the phone.
她打电话时,说话总是摆出一副上流架子.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. It was a place to which genteel families came in search of health and quiet.
这是上流社会家庭寻求健康和静谧的场所。
来自辞典例句
4. You are genteel enough, you look like a lady.
你是够文雅的, 看上去象个大家闺秀.
来自辞典例句
5. There are not as many genteel young men in Devonshire as Sussex.
