urbanity

plural urbanities

1. countableuncountableBehaviour that is polished, refined, courteous.

   Wealdon's two little visits explained perfectly the active urbanities of Captain Stanley Lake.

   1864, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “A Threatening Notice”, in Wylder’s Hand. […], New York, N.Y.: Carleton, […], published 1865, →OCLC, page 276

   3 more examples

   The vaunted courtesy of the old school, the smooth urbanity that prevailed in former days [...]

   1825, Washington Irving, “Paris at the Restoration”, in The Crayon Papers

   He only stayed a few days in London, to take the oaths and his seat in the House of Lords, a ceremony that was to take place on the morrow, and he held himself much indebted to the circumstance of spending his first evening at Lady Anne's, because the marquis of Wentworthdale had, with the utmost urbanity, offered to accompany him on that somewhat trying occasion,and he felt the value of his kindness not less than the courtesy evinced by a man of his rank and importance in the court and the House of Lords.

   1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “(please specify the page)”, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, pages 261–262

   Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.

   1963, Margery Allingham, “The Stranger”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 115

   Synonyms: urbaneness

2. countableuncountableUrbanness.

   [...], the majority of cases will differ as to "urbanity", as most of the evacuees were rural.

   1955, C.J. Lammers, Studies in Holland Flood Disaster 1953, volume 2, page 39

   2 more examples

   Evacuees, the majority of whom were rural persons, reported more tensions as the urbanity of the reception community increased

   1956, Fred C. Iklé, Harry V. Kincaid, “Social Aspects of Wartime Evacuation of American Cities”, in Disaster Study, volume 4, page 44

   If the criterion of urbanity is the mixture of classes and ethic groups, in some cases including a mixture of blacks and whites, along with dens living and crowded streets and the omnipresence of all manner of business near the home in every quarter, then the cities of the United States in the years between 1820 and 1870 marked the zenith of our national urbanity.

   1995, Sam Bass Warner, The Urban Wilderness: A History of the American City, page 84

   Antonyms: rurality