gentleman
//ˈd͡ʒɛn.təl.mən//
informalForms
- Plural
- gentlemen
Definitions
1.Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.
- She wanted to go see a movie called Gigi, which I was not too thrilled about. But being a gentleman, I bit my tongue and said, “Okay.”
- I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.
2.Any man.
- Please escort this gentleman to the gentlemen's room.
3.An effeminate or oversophisticated man.
- Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?
4.An amateur player, particularly one whose wealth permits him to forego payment.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2162
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English gentilman, morphologically gentle + man, partial calque of Old French gentilhome.