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gentlewoman

gentlewoman

6 9.0
A woman from a rich or important family who has polite, graceful manners
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛntəlˌwʊmən/
  • Archaic
translation icon : dama
  • In past centuries, a gentlewoman was expected to display a high level of grace and etiquette in society.
  • gentlewoman is recognized
  • the gentlewoman's time

Being a woman is a matter of age, being a gentlewoman is a matter of choice.

Examples

  • I hope I did not forget the dignity a gentlewoman should preserve under the most trying of circumstances, but I fancy that my tones, while low, were concentrated, and that the little American I used was "frequent and fluent and free," for the man turned pale and wavered.

    Blog text (22)
  • But with a respectable gentlewoman to put you forward, you will not be ignored.

  • Being a woman is a matter of age, being a gentlewoman is a matter of choice.

  • ''Choose a gentlewoman for my sake,'' ''and for your own, let her be an active, useful sort of person, not brought up too high.''

  • So the gentlewoman in me decides to let her off the hook.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • She turned thirty-five on New Year's Day, the day we married, and she was a beauty, a real gentlewoman, I can tell you.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The chair gratefully recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois.

  • Mrs. Cross, a gentlewoman in straitened circumstances, will come with me as my companion, to pack and unpack.

  • It was written by an English gentlewoman of the late nineteenth century and described her walks through the English countryside and woods.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Transferring the reins to her left hand, Mel touched the brim of her cap with a demure nod and smiled with all the refinement of a gentlewoman off to a fox hunt.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

lady
vsgentlewoman
902 1.0

A woman who has good manners and looks elegant

is used especially for such women in past times
madam
vsgentlewoman
  • Formal
360 3.2

A polite way to address a woman in a position of authority

refers to social class and refinement rather than an address form
dame
vsgentlewoman
  • UK
13 6.9

A woman given an official title for important public service

is a broader social class term not focused on honorific titles
noblewoman
vsgentlewoman
2 5.8

A woman from a high social class who has a title

is a broader term for high social standing not only nobility

Surface Forms

gentlewoman singular
gentlewomen plural

Morphology

gentlewoman = gentle + woman (semi-transparent) = gentle + woman

Structurally a clear compound of 'gentle' + 'woman', but the sense 'woman of high social standing/good breeding' is specialized and may not be inferred by learners as simply 'a kind woman'.

Etymology

The word gentlewoman joins gentle and woman. Gentle once meant 'well-born' or 'noble', not just 'kind', so a gentlewoman was a woman of high social standing and refinement.