urbane
/ˈɝˈbeɪn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.46 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of an act, expression, etc.: suited to a person of refined manners; elegant, sophisticated.
Example Sentences
- "We took advantage of our acquaintance with the urbane Frenchman to join his party; the conversation turned almost entirely on literary subjects."
- "Newman, at this juncture, fell to admiring the duchess for her fine manners. He felt, most accurately, that she was not a grain less urbane than she would have been if his marriage were still in prospect; but he felt also that she was not a particle more urbane."
- "However, there was nothing for it but to welcome her with all the heartiness I could summon. The sepulchral atmosphere of the parlor had chilled and dampened the spirits of this usually urbane woman, while disappointment and disgust were written in every line of that strong face."
- "Our people must have some control over our destiny," reasons Wilma Muth, an urbane woman who serves as Inyo County supervisor."
- "Mme de Chartres' advice to her daughter consisted only of prohibitions from which we might infer that the virtuous urbane woman was both inactive and invisible, obviously not a particularly suitable subject for the elaboration of engaging tales."
- "He [Yusuf I of Granada] had an excellent memory, well stored with science and erudition; he was of a lively genius, and accounted the best poet of his time, and his manners were gentle, affable, and urbane."
Etymology
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). Compare typologically civil, courteous.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɝˈbeɪn/
- British English: /ɜːˈbeɪn/