Over-polite

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Excessively polite.

    "She can communicate both of these intentions simultaneously by using an over-polite request such as "Would you mind if I asked you to keep the windows closed, please?" Such unexpectedly over-polite utterances are often interpreted as ironic."

Example

More examples

"Isn't it the case in any language that if you use too many drawn-out words one's expression becomes over-polite."

Etymology

From over- + polite.

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