Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GEN-TEEL, a. [Fr. gentil; It. gentile; Sp. gentil; L. gentilis, from gens, race, stock, family, and with the sense of noble or at least respectable birth, as we use birth and family.]

1. Polite; well bred; easy and graceful in manners or behavior; having the manners of well bred people; as, genteel company; genteel guests.
2. Polite; easy and graceful; becoming well bred persons; as, genteel manners or behavior; a genteel address.
3. Graceful in mien or form; elegant; as, the lady has a genteel person.
4. Elegantly dressed. Law.
5. Decorous; refined; free from any thing low or vulgar; as, genteel comedy. Addison.