Meanings
plural politenesses
- uncountableusuallyThe quality of being polite.
At school, where politeness is not one of the compulsory subjects, I was "Pup", "Puggy", "Ki-ki", "Balcombe Beauty", "Snarleywow", and other shafts of endearment. I was not petted.
1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados MysteriesSynonyms: civility, courtesy, courtliness, etiquette, grace, civility, courtesy
- countableusuallyA polite act.
These politenesses left Miss Marley floundering for initiative, holding Jasper and being solemnly inspected by Podson, who clearly depended on her the convention of an afternoon call.
1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 145
Synonyms & antonyms
antonym(s) of “act or quality of being polite”
More synonyms by meaning
nouna courteous manner that respects accepted social usage
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic أَدَب
- أَدَب (ʔadab)act of being polite
Bulgarian учти́вост, ве́жливост
- учти́вост (učtívost)act of being polite
- ве́жливост (véžlivost)act of being polite
Catalan educació cortesia
- educació cortesiaact of being polite
Chinese Cantonese 禮貌 /礼貌
- 禮貌 /礼貌 (lai⁵ maau⁶)act of being polite
Chinese Mandarin 禮貌 /礼貌, 客氣 /客气
- 禮貌 /礼貌 (lǐmào)act of being polite
- 客氣 /客气 (kèqi, kèqì)act of being polite
Czech zdvořilost
- zdvořilostact of being polite
Danish høflighed
- høflighedact of being polite
Dutch beleefdheid, hoffelijkheid
- beleefdheidact of being polite
- hoffelijkheidact of being polite
Esperanto ĝentileco, ĝentilaĵo
- ĝentilecoquality of being polite
- ĝentilaĵoact of being polite
Estonian viisakus
- viisakusact of being polite
Finnish kohteliaisuus
- kohteliaisuusact of being polite
French politesse
- politesseact of being polite
German Höflichkeit
- Höflichkeitact of being polite
Greek ευγένεια
- ευγένεια (evgéneia)act of being polite
Hebrew נִימוּס, אֲדִיבוּת
- נִימוּס (nimús)act of being polite
- אֲדִיבוּת (adivút)act of being polite
Hindi शिष्टता, अदब
- शिष्टता (śiṣṭatā)act of being polite
- अदब (adab)act of being polite
- नज़ाकत (nazākat)act of being polite
- सभ्यता (sabhyatā)act of being polite
Hungarian udvariasság
- udvariasságact of being polite
Icelandic kurteisi
- kurteisiact of being polite
Italian cortesia
- cortesiaact of being polite
Japanese 丁寧さ, 礼儀正しさ
- 丁寧さ (teineisa)act of being polite
- 礼儀正しさ (reigitadashisa)act of being polite
Korean 예의, 례의
- 예의 (yeui)act of being polite
- 례의 (ryeui)act of being polite
- 공손 (gongson)act of being polite
- 공손함 (gongsonham)act of being polite
Latin cōmitās
- cōmitāsact of being polite
Latvian pieklājība
- pieklājībaact of being polite
Lithuanian mandagumas
- mandagumasact of being polite
Norwegian Bokmål høflighet
- høflighetact of being polite
Persian ادب, نزاکت
- ادب (adab)act of being polite
- نزاکت (nezâkat)act of being polite
Polish uprzejmość, grzeczność
- uprzejmośćact of being polite
- grzecznośćact of being polite
- kurtuazjaact of being polite
Portuguese educação, polidez
- educaçãoact of being polite
- polidezact of being polite
Romanian politețe, amabilitate
- politețeact of being polite
- amabilitateact of being polite
- civilitateact of being polite
Russian ве́жливость, учти́вость
- ве́жливость (véžlivostʹ)act of being polite
- учти́вость (učtívostʹ)act of being polite
Scottish Gaelic modh
- modhact of being polite
Slovak zdvorilosť
- zdvorilosťact of being polite
Spanish educación, cortesía
- educaciónact of being polite
- cortesíaact of being polite
Swedish artighet, hövlighet
- artighetact of being polite
- hövlighetact of being polite
Thai ความสุภาพ
- ความสุภาพ (kwaam-sù-pâap)act of being polite
Turkish nezaket, incelik
- nezaketact of being polite
- incelikact of being polite
- kibarlıkact of being polite
Ukrainian вві́чливість, че́мність
- вві́чливість (vvíčlyvistʹ)act of being polite
- че́мність (čémnistʹ)act of being polite
- ґре́чність (gréčnistʹ)act of being polite
Urdu ادب, نزاکت
- ادب (adab)act of being polite
- نزاکت (nazākat)act of being polite
Vietnamese sự lịch sự
- sự lịch sựact of being polite
Cite this entry
politeness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/politeness
“politeness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/politeness. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “politeness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/politeness.
Source: politeness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.