What does "incivility" mean?
The state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner.
Incivility
/ɪnsɪˈvɪlɪti/ noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner.
- Grammar: incivility is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: animality, bad manners, barbarism, barbarity.
- Useful contrasts: civil progresses, performative civility, more civil progress.
- Usage evidence: “I wish you all,” he said, “my friends, to understand, however, that I have neither story to tell nor injuries to avenge. If a lady shall question me henceforward upon the incident of that unhappy night, I shall remain silent, and in future consider her as one who has shown herself desirous to break of her friendship with me; in a word, I will never speak to her again. But if a gentleman shall ask me the same question, I shall regard the incivility as equivalent to an invitation to meet him in the Duke's Walk, and I expect that he will rule himself accordingly.”
How to use "incivility"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
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Before you rely on this definition
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Definition decision workflow
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The state of being uncivil; lack of courtesy; rudeness in manner. uncountable
"Courtezan. How say you now? is not your husband mad? / Adriana. His incivility confirms no less."
- 2 deliberate discourtesy wordnet
- 3 Any act of rudeness or ill-breeding. countable
"Latona, in her flight from Juno, is churlishly intreated by the Lycian pesants, and denied the publique benefit of water: for which incivility these bawling Clownes are changed into croaking froggs, and confined unto that Lake for ever."
- 4 Lack of civilization; a state of rudeness or barbarism. uncountable
"BEAT on, proud billows; Boreas blow; / Swell, curled waves, high as Jove's roof; / Your incivility doth ſhow, / That innocence is tempeſt proof; / Though ſurly Nereus frown, my thoughts are calm; / Then ſtrike, Affliction, for thy wounds are balm. [Attributed to Roger L'Estrange (1616–1704).]"
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
civil progressesperformative civilitymore civil progressacted civilly
Example
"“I wish you all,” he said, “my friends, to understand, however, that I have neither story to tell nor injuries to avenge. If a lady shall question me henceforward upon the incident of that unhappy night, I shall remain silent, and in future consider her as one who has shown herself desirous to break of her friendship with me; in a word, I will never speak to her again. But if a gentleman shall ask me the same question, I shall regard the incivility as equivalent to an invitation to meet him in the Duke's Walk, and I expect that he will rule himself accordingly.”"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "incivility"?
Common synonyms include: animality, bad manners, barbarism, barbarity, barbarousness, bestiality.
How do you use "incivility" in a sentence?
“I wish you all,” he said, “my friends, to understand, however, that I have neither story to tell nor injuries to avenge. If a lady shall question me henceforward upon the incident of that unhappy night, I shall remain silent, and in future consider her as one who has shown herself desirous to break of her friendship with me; in a word, I will never speak to her again. But if a gentleman shall ask me the same question, I shall regard the incivility as equivalent to an invitation to meet him in the Duke's Walk, and I expect that he will rule himself accordingly.”
How do you pronounce "incivility"?
Pronounced /ɪnsɪˈvɪlɪti/.
Etymology
From Middle French incivilité, from Late Latin incivilitas (“incivility”), from Latin incivilis (“impolite, uncivil”), from in- (privative prefix) + civilis (“belonging to a citizen, civic, political, urbane, courteous, civil”) (from civis (“a citizen”)), equivalent to in- + civility.