| / English Dictionary |
GRACIOUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Disposed to bestow favors
Example:
thanks to the gracious gods
Classified under:
Similar:
propitious (presenting favorable circumstances; likely to result in or show signs of success)
Derivation:
graciousness (the quality of being kind and gentle)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Exhibiting courtesy and politeness
Example:
a nice gesture
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
polite (showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc.)
Derivation:
grace (a sense of propriety and consideration for others)
graciousness (excellence of manners or social conduct)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Characterized by charm, good taste, and generosity of spirit
Example:
he bears insult with gracious good humor
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
elegant; graceful; refined (suggesting taste, ease, and wealth)
merciful ((used conventionally of royalty and high nobility) gracious)
Also:
friendly (characteristic of or befitting a friend)
refined ((used of persons and their behavior) cultivated and genteel)
Antonym:
ungracious (lacking charm and good taste)
Derivation:
grace (elegance and beauty of movement or expression)
graciousness (excellence of manners or social conduct)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Characterized by kindness and warm courtesy especially of a king to his subjects
Example:
our benignant king
Synonyms:
benignant; gracious
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
kind (having or showing a tender and considerate and helpful nature; used especially of persons and their behavior)
Derivation:
grace (a disposition to kindness and compassion)
graciousness (the quality of being kind and gentle)
Context examples:
Their presence always gave her pain, and she hardly knew how to make a very gracious return to the overpowering delight of Lucy in finding her STILL in town.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
“Charles would be flattered if he could see the gracious way in which we receive his kindness,” said she.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“Your pardon, my gracious lord,” he cried.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Enscombe however was gracious, gracious in fact, if not in word.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
And then, in his first gracious tones, he replied to me, Yesterday morning, Mr. Hawkins, said he, in the dog-watch, down came Doctor Livesey with a flag of truce.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
“His conduct was certainly not very gracious.”
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Fanny was too urgent, however, and had too many tears in her eyes for denial; and it ended in a gracious “Well, well!” which was permission.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
When I asked him if he had bought it, he answered that it was a present from a certain gracious lady in whose interests he had once been fortunate enough to carry out a small commission.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Of the former, she spoke aloud her admiration; and the general, with a very gracious countenance, acknowledged that it was by no means an ill-sized room, and further confessed that, though as careless on such subjects as most people, he did look upon a tolerably large eating-room as one of the necessaries of life; he supposed, however, that she must have been used to much better-sized apartments at Mr. Allen's?
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
She put forward a hand—such a gracious, stooping attitude it was—and she pressed back my head.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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