deferentially

comparative more deferentially · superlative most deferentially

1. In a deferential manner; with deference

   Hat in hand, the sailors stood deferentially in a semicircle before him.

   1849, Herman Melville, chapter 61, in Redburn: His First Voyage

   3 more examples

   Mr. Hempseed, touching his forelock, was quietly vacating the seat in the hearth. Everyone was staring curiously, yet deferentially, at the foreigners.

   1905, Emma Orczy, chapter III, in The Scarlet Pimpernel

   "Come in, sirs, come in if you please," begged Ikey deferentially; the door was held more fully open and they passed into a store […]

   1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London

   He treated her deferentially, sometimes saying, "Here's the Boss," or "Momma, you're the one with the purse strings."

   1991, Beach Leighton, Mr. Dutch: The Arkansas Traveler, Champaign, I.L.: Sagamore Publishing Inc., →ISBN, page 26