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couth

couth

1 9.9
A polite, well-mannered way of behaving often said jokingly
  • noun
  • /kuːθ/
  • Informal
translation icon : refinamiento
  • Even though he tried to act sophisticated, his lack of couth revealed his true nature.

Examples

  • It was clear from his rude remarks that he had no couth at the dinner party.

  • English had parallel sets of words for body parts and functions, the "couth" ones usually coming from French, the uncouth ones from plain Saxon.

    Blog text (4)
  • You really have no couth, do you?

  • You know, you just don't have no couth.

  • - Well some folks just ain't got no couth like us, Sal.

  • Ernest, counting is not couth.

  • No couth.

  • IT IS NOT, AS THEY SAY, CONSIDERED COUTH... TO EMPTY YOUR SPIT VALVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PERFORMANCE.

  • She handled the formal event with great couth, impressing everyone with her manners.

Synonyms

correctness
vscouth
53 3.8

A way of behaving and speaking that follows social rules and polite manners

is about cultured, refined manners often used in a humorous or facetious way

Antonyms

uncouth
  • Offensive
10 8.4

Not polite or well behaved in a rough way

How Refined

refinement
10 5.9
couth
  • Informal
1 9.9
politeness
26 1.3
rudeness
27 1.8

Surface Forms

couth singular
couths plural

Etymology

Couth as a noun comes from the same old word cūþ meaning 'known' and was later made as the opposite of uncouth. So when people speak of someone's couth they mean that person's 'refinement' or 'polite manners'.