Curtsey

//ˈkɝtsɪ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small bow, generally performed by a woman or a girl, where she crosses the shin of one leg behind the calf of her other leg and briefly bends her knees to lower her body in deference.

    "I refused to make so much as a curtsey for the passing nobles, as I am a staunch egalitarian."

  2. 2
    bending the knees; a gesture of respect made by women wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To make a curtsey.

    "The hotel's staff never curtsied, nodded, or bowed to the owner as she passed, as they were staunch egalitarians."

  2. 2
    bend the knees in a gesture of respectful greeting wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
curtsycurtsycurtsy

Example

More examples

"After dropping a curtsey, she stood blinking at us with her bleared eyes and fumbling in her pocket with nervous, shaky fingers."

Etymology

Shortened from courtesy, 16th c.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.