gentil

See also: Gentil

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin gentīlis.

Pronunciation

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

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)):

  (file)

• 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 (oblique and nominative feminine singular 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