gracious

English

Alternative forms

• gratious (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English gracious, from Old French gracieus, from Latin gratiosus, from gratia (“esteem, favor”). See grace. Displaced native Old English hold (“gracious”). Doublet of gracioso and grazioso.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹeɪʃəs/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -eɪʃəs

Adjective

gracious (comparative more gracious, superlative most gracious)

1. kind and warmly courteous
2. tactful
3. compassionate
4. indulgent, charming and graceful
5. elegant and with good taste
6. benignant
7. full of grace
8. magnanimous, without arrogance or complaint, benevolently declining to raise controversy or insist on possible prerogatives.

   The actress's gracious acceptance of being named only in the end credits allowed her character's appearance in the episode to remain a surprise.

Derived terms

• graciousness
• graciously

See also

• graceful

Translations

kind and warmly courteous

• Bulgarian: любезен (bg) (ljubezen)
• Finnish: ystävällinen (fi), kohtelias (fi)
• Hungarian: kedves (hu), szíves (hu), jóságos (hu), nyájas (hu), barátságos (hu), szívélyes (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: cōmis (la)
• Persian: بخشنده (fa) (baxŝanda(e)), مهربان (fa) (mehrabān)
• Polish: miłościwy (pl), łaskawy (pl), dobrotliwy (pl)

tactful — see also tactful

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: tapintatos (hu), udvarias (hu)

compassionate — see also compassionate

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: könyörületes (hu), irgalmas (hu)

indulgent — see also indulgent

• Bulgarian: милостив (bg) (milostiv), снизходителен (bg) (snizhoditelen)
• Finnish: suopea (fi)
• Hungarian: jóindulatú (hu), jószívű (hu), elnéző (hu), engedékeny (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: indulgema (io)
• Persian: بخشنده (fa) (baxŝanda(e))
• Romanian: indulgent (ro), îngăduitor (ro),
• Swedish: nådig (sv)
• Turkish: merhametli (tr)

elegant and with good taste — see also elegant

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: bájos (hu), kecses (hu), tetszetős (hu), előkelő (hu), elragadó (hu)

benignant — see also benignant

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: kegyelmes, kegyes (hu), jóakaratú (hu), jóindulatú (hu), nagylelkű (hu)

full of grace

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Norman: ^{(please verify)} grâcieux (Jersey)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Interjection

gracious

1. Expression of surprise, contempt, outrage, disgust, boredom, or frustration.

Synonyms

• (expression of surprise): See Thesaurus:wow

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• gracyous, gracyows, gracyouse, gracius, gracieux, gratious, gratius

Etymology

From Old French gracious, from Latin grātiōsus. Equivalent to grace +‎ -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡraːsiˈuːs/, /ɡraːˈsjuːs/, /ˈɡraːsius/, /ˈɡraːsjus/, /ˈɡraːsjəs/

Adjective

gracious (plural and weak singular graciouse, comparative graciouser, superlative graciousest)

1. kind, gracious, polite
2. forgiving, relenting (used mainly positively)
3. godly, Christian, involving the graciousness of God.
4. lucky, glad; bestowed with good fortune.
5. enjoyable, nice, pleasing.
6. good-looking; pleasing to the eye.
7. obedient, respectworthy
8. (rare) useful, beneficious

Derived terms

• graciously
• graciousnesse

Descendants

• English: gracious
• Scots: gracious
• Yola: graacuse, graashoos

References

• “grāciǒus, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-14.