Curtsy

noun, verb

noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of curtsey. alt-of, alternative

    "A Signora Rossinuola, with the face of a goddess, and the voice of an angel, made her first curtsy that evening to the Neapolitans. She was received with the most rapturous applause."

  2. 2
    bending the knees; a gesture of respect made by women wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of curtsey. alt-of, alternative

    "He made a salutation, or, to speak nearer the truth, an ill-defined, abortive attempt at curtsy."

  2. 2
    make a curtsy; usually done only by girls and women; as a sign of respect wordnet
  3. 3
    bend the knees in a gesture of respectful greeting wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
accostaddressbendbend the kneebend the neckbend to

Example

More examples

"A Signora Rossinuola, with the face of a goddess, and the voice of an angel, made her first curtsy that evening to the Neapolitans. She was received with the most rapturous applause."

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