gentil

See also: Gentil

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin gentīlis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ʒənˈtil]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [d͡ʒenˈtil]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ʒenˈtil]

Adjective

gentil m or f (masculine and feminine plural gentils)

1. kind, courteous
2. gentile (non-Jewish)

   Antonym: jueu

Derived terms

• gentilesa
• gentilment

Noun

gentil m or f by sense (plural gentils)

1. gentile (non-Jew)

   Antonym: jueu

Further reading

• “gentil”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “gentil”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “gentil” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “gentil”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French gentil, borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɑ̃.ti/, (liaison) /ʒɑ̃.tij‿/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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Adjective

gentil (feminine gentille, masculine plural gentils, feminine plural gentilles)

1. (archaic) noble; gallant, courteous
2. kind, sweet

   Antonym: méchant

3. (derogatory) sweet but not much else; vanilla

   Synonym: policé

4. well behaved, good

   Synonym: sage

5. pleasant, amiable, nice

   Elle reçut une petite tape gentille sur les fesses.

   She received an amiable little slap on the buttocks.

6. attractive, pretty
   • 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […]‎^[1], Paris: Michel Lévy Frères; republished as Eleanor Marx, transl., Madame Bovary, 1886:

     — Elle est fort gentille ! se disait-il; elle est fort gentille, cette femme du médecin ! De belles dents, les yeux noirs, le pied coquet, et de la tournure comme une Parisienne. D'où diable sort-elle ?

     “She is very pretty,” he said to himself; “she is very pretty, this doctor’s wife. Fine teeth, black eyes, a dainty foot, a figure like a Parisienne's. Where the devil does she come from?

7. all very well

   Synonyms: beau, mignon

   C'est bien gentil tout ça, mais…

   That's all very well, but...

8. fairly large, nice, tidy

   Synonyms: joli, beau

   une gentille somme ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• gentilhomme
• gentillesse
• gentillet
• gentiment

Noun

gentil m (plural gentils, feminine gentille)

1. pagan, heretic
2. gentile

Related terms

• genre
• gens
• généreux

Further reading

• “gentil”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French gentil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʒɛnˈtiːl], [ʒãnˈtiːl]
• Hyphenation: gen‧til

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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• Audio (Germany (Berlin), French-style):

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Adjective

gentil (strong nominative masculine singular gentiler, comparative gentiler, superlative am gentilsten)

1. nice, amiable

Declension

Positive forms of gentil number & gender singular plural masculine feminine neuter predicative er ist gentil sie ist gentil es ist gentil sie sind gentil strong declension (without article) nominative gentiler gentile gentiles gentile genitive gentilen gentiler gentilen gentiler dative gentilem gentiler gentilem gentilen accusative gentilen gentile gentiles gentile weak declension (with definite article) nominative der gentile die gentile das gentile die gentilen genitive des gentilen der gentilen des gentilen der gentilen dative dem gentilen der gentilen dem gentilen den gentilen accusative den gentilen die gentile das gentile die gentilen mixed declension (with indefinite article) nominative ein gentiler eine gentile ein gentiles (keine) gentilen genitive eines gentilen einer gentilen eines gentilen (keiner) gentilen dative einem gentilen einer gentilen einem gentilen (keinen) gentilen accusative einen gentilen eine gentile ein gentiles (keine) gentilen Comparative forms of gentil number & gender singular plural masculine feminine neuter predicative er ist gentiler sie ist gentiler es ist gentiler sie sind gentiler strong declension (without article) nominative gentilerer gentilere gentileres gentilere genitive gentileren gentilerer gentileren gentilerer dative gentilerem gentilerer gentilerem gentileren accusative gentileren gentilere gentileres gentilere weak declension (with definite article) nominative der gentilere die gentilere das gentilere die gentileren genitive des gentileren der gentileren des gentileren der gentileren dative dem gentileren der gentileren dem gentileren den gentileren accusative den gentileren die gentilere das gentilere die gentileren mixed declension (with indefinite article) nominative ein gentilerer eine gentilere ein gentileres (keine) gentileren genitive eines gentileren einer gentileren eines gentileren (keiner) gentileren dative einem gentileren einer gentileren einem gentileren (keinen) gentileren accusative einen gentileren eine gentilere ein gentileres (keine) gentileren Superlative forms of gentil number & gender singular plural masculine feminine neuter predicative er ist am gentilsten sie ist am gentilsten es ist am gentilsten sie sind am gentilsten strong declension (without article) nominative gentilster gentilste gentilstes gentilste genitive gentilsten gentilster gentilsten gentilster dative gentilstem gentilster gentilstem gentilsten accusative gentilsten gentilste gentilstes gentilste weak declension (with definite article) nominative der gentilste die gentilste das gentilste die gentilsten genitive des gentilsten der gentilsten des gentilsten der gentilsten dative dem gentilsten der gentilsten dem gentilsten den gentilsten accusative den gentilsten die gentilste das gentilste die gentilsten mixed declension (with indefinite article) nominative ein gentilster eine gentilste ein gentilstes (keine) gentilsten genitive eines gentilsten einer gentilsten eines gentilsten (keiner) gentilsten dative einem gentilsten einer gentilsten einem gentilsten (keinen) gentilsten accusative einen gentilsten eine gentilste ein gentilstes (keine) gentilsten

Further reading

• “gentil” in Duden online
• “gentil”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)

Italian

Adjective

gentil (apocopated)

1. apocopic form of gentile

Luxembourgish

Etymology

Borrowed from French gentil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʒɑ̃ːti]
• The ⟨l⟩ remains silent in all forms.

Adjective

gentil (masculine gentilen, neuter gentilt, comparative méi gentil, superlative am gentilsten)

1. nice, friendly

   Synonyms: fein, frëndlech

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɛ̃nˈtil/

Adjective

gentil m (feminine gentil or gentile)

1. noble; courteous; courtly

Descendants

• French: gentil

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese gentil, borrowed from Latin gentīlis (“belonging to the same family”), from gēns (“clan; tribe”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʒẽˈt͡ʃiw/ [ʒẽˈt͡ʃiʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʒẽˈtil/ [ʒẽˈtiɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʒẽˈtil/ [ʒẽˈtiɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʒẽˈti.li/

• Homophone: Gentil
• Rhymes: (Portugal) -il, (Brazil) -iw
• Hyphenation: gen‧til

Adjective

gentil m or f (plural gentis)

1. gentle; amiable; kind

   Synonyms: agradável, amigável, amistoso, cortês

   Antonyms: desagradável, descortês

2. elegant

   Synonyms: belo, elegante, formoso, garboso

   Antonyms: desagradável, deselegante, feio

3. gentle; polite; respectful

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cortês

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “polite”): See Thesaurus:cortês

Related terms

• gentileza
• gentílico
• gente

Further reading

• “gentil”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “gentil”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French gentile.

Adjective

gentil m or n (feminine singular gentilă, masculine plural gentili, feminine/neuter plural gentile)

1. gentile

Declension

Declension of gentil

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	gentil		gentilă	gentili	gentile
	definite	gentilul		gentila	gentilii	gentilele
genitive- dative	indefinite	gentil		gentile	gentili	gentile
	definite	gentilului		gentilei	gentililor	gentilelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gentīlis, from gēns (“Roman clan”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xenˈtil/ [xẽn̪ˈt̪il]
• Rhymes: -il
• Syllabification: gen‧til

Adjective

gentil m or f (masculine and feminine plural gentiles)

1. kind, nice

   Synonym: amable

2. gentile (non-Jewish)

   Antonym: judío

Derived terms

• gentileza
• gentilísimo
• gentilmente

Related terms

• gentilidad

Noun

gentil m or f by sense (plural gentiles)

1. gentile (non-Jew)

   Synonym: (sometimes offensive) goy

   Antonym: judío

Related terms

• gente

Further reading

• “gentil”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from French gentile.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɧaŋˈtiːl/

Adjective

gentil (somewhat archaic)

1. elegant and generous
2. elegant, fancy, posh

Declension

Inflection of gentil

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	gentil	gentilare	gentilast
neuter singular	gentilt	gentilare	gentilast
plural	gentila	gentilare	gentilast
masculine plural2	gentile	gentilare	gentilast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	gentile	gentilare	gentilaste
all	gentila	gentilare	gentilaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

• schangtil

References

• “gentil”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “gentil”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “gentil”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• enligt