Gentlewomanly
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Having the manners or behavior of a gentlewoman; having social graces; polite.
"Then, Sir, I am Guardian to my only Siſter; and tho’ ſhe is ſix Years above Age, I ſtill keep her Fortune carefully in my own hands, for fear ſhe ſhou’d idly throw it away upon ſome beggarly young Fellow: Not but I give her a good Gentlewomanly Education; for I have taught her ſeveral Tunes, my ſelf, upon the Dulcimer; and to ſave the charge of a Singing Maſter, I let her go once a Week, with her Maid, in the Upper Gallery, to learn the Songs out of the Opera."
Example
More examples"Then, Sir, I am Guardian to my only Siſter; and tho’ ſhe is ſix Years above Age, I ſtill keep her Fortune carefully in my own hands, for fear ſhe ſhou’d idly throw it away upon ſome beggarly young Fellow: Not but I give her a good Gentlewomanly Education; for I have taught her ſeveral Tunes, my ſelf, upon the Dulcimer; and to ſave the charge of a Singing Maſter, I let her go once a Week, with her Maid, in the Upper Gallery, to learn the Songs out of the Opera."
Etymology
From gentlewoman + -ly.
More for "gentlewomanly"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.