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Genteel vs Refine - What's the difference?

genteel | refine |

As an adjective genteel

is affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.

As a verb refine is

.

genteel

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Affectedly proper or refined; somewhat prudish refinement; excessively polite.
  • Polite and well-mannered.
  • Stylish or elegant.
  • Aristocratic
  • Derived terms

    * genteelism

    refine

    English

    Verb

    (refin)
  • To reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities; to free from dross or alloy; to separate from extraneous matter; to purify
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Yesterday’s fuel , passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.
  • To purify from what is gross, coarse, vulgar, inelegant, low, and the like; to make elegant or excellent; to polish.
  • To become pure; to be cleared of feculent matter.
  • To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
  • To affect nicety or subtlety in thought or language.
  • Anagrams

    * ----