Adjective

(er)

Tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition.

Soft and mild rather than hard or severe.

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)

, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=3 citation , passage=Here the stripped panelling was warmly gold and the pictures, mostly of the English school, were mellow and gentle in the afternoon light.}}

Docile and easily managed.

a gentle horse

Gradual rather than steep or sudden.

Polite and respectful rather than rude.

(archaic) Well-born; of a good family or respectable birth, though not noble.

* Johnson's Cyc.

British society is divided into nobility, gentry, and yeomanry, and families are either noble, gentle , or simple.

* Milton

the studies wherein our noble and gentle youth ought to bestow their time

Adjective

(er)

Evincing strength; indicating vigorous health; strong; sinewy; muscular; vigorous; sound; as, a robust body; robust youth; robust health.

He was a robust man of six feet four.

* Anthony Trollope (1815-1882)

She was stronger, larger, more robust physically than he had hitherto conceived.

Violent; rough; rude.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Everton 0 - 2 Liverpool , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=As a frenetic opening continued, Cahill - whose robust approach had already prompted Jamie Carragher to register his displeasure to Atkinson - rose above the Liverpool defence to force keeper Pepe Reina into an athletic tip over the top.}}

Requiring strength or vigor; as, robust employment.

Sensible (of intellect etc.); straightforward, not given to or confused by uncertainty or subtlety;

(systems engineering) Designed or evolved in such a way as to be resistant to total failure despite partial damage.

(software engineering) Resistant or impervious to failure regardless of user input or unexpected conditions.

(statistics) Not greatly influenced by errors in assumptions about the distribution of sample errors.