urbane

Meaning

1. Of a person (usually a man): having refined manners; courteous, polite, suave.
2. Of an act, expression, etc.: suited to a person of refined manners; elegant, sophisticated.
3. (alt-of, obsolete) Obsolete spelling of urban (“of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a city or town, or life in such a place; living in a city or town; having authority or jurisdiction over a city or town”).

Opposite of

rustic, unurbane

Synonyms

polite

courteous

genteel

suave

refined

sophisticated

well-mannered

courtly

respectful

gracious

svelte

civil

cultured

mannerly

polished

learned

patrician

smooth

soulful

thoroughbred

town

🏙️

urban

well-educated

well mannered

well-read

silver-tongued

Minnesota nice

accomplished

hende

amiable

civilised

civilized

complaisant

considerate

cultivated

debonair

educated

gallant

gentle

gentlemanly

glib

kind

ladylike

Translations

urbain

cortês

cortés

urbano

ευγενικός

αβρός

urbanus

urbano

raffiné

educato

urban

urbanem

höflich

cortese

weltmännisch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɜːˈbeɪn/

Etymology

Cognate with French: urbain

In summary

A variant of urban + -ane (a variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Urban is borrowed from Middle French urbain (“belonging to a city, urban; courteous, refined, urbane”) (modern French urbain), or from its etymon Latin urbānus (“of or belonging to a city, urban; of manners or style: like those of city dwellers: cultivated, polished, refined, sophisticated”), from urbs (“city; walled town; Rome”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to encircle, enclose; a belt; an enclosure, fence”) or *werbʰ- (“to enclose”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).