polite
polite
adjective
/pəˈlaɪt/
(comparative politer, superlative politest)
more polite and most polite are also common
1 having or showing good manners and respect for the feelings of others
SYNONYM courteous
polite to somebody Please be polite to our guests.
Our waiter was very polite and helpful.
We were all too polite to object.
OPPOSITE impolite
TOPICS Personal qualities A2
Collocations
verbs
be
seem
sound
adverb
extremely
fairly
very
preposition
to
2 socially correct but not always sincere
I don't know how to make polite conversation.
The performance was greeted with polite applause.
She greeted me with a quick hello and a polite smile.
3 ​only before noun from a class of society that believes it is better than others
‘Bum’ is not a word we use in polite company.
The scandal outraged polite society.
Word Origin
late Middle English (in the Latin sense): from Latin politus ‘polished, made smooth’, past participle of polire.