gentleman
noun
Simple meaning
Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
jehntuhlmuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdʒɛntəlmən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
by extensionpolite term of address
Any man.
Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.
A man of refinement
“He was a true gentleman, always polite and respectful to everyone.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (by extension; polite term of address) Any man.
Used this way, gentleman is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Slightly formal
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Euphemistic
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use gentleman
- “He held the door open for her like a true gentleman.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
One of 40 gentlemen who attend the British sovereign on state occasions.
A manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.