Manners are the small ways we show other people that they matter: a greeting, a careful word, a secret kept. This topic’s words describe people by their manners, from the gracious to the gruff. Notice how many of the rude words are about how something is said (too short, too rough, too mean) rather than how loud it is.
Key idea
Polite: courteous (respectful), tactful (spares feelings), discreet (keeps things private), urbane (polished and at ease), suave (smoothly charming). Rude: boorish (rough and loud), brusque (abrupt), curt (rudely brief), uncouth (without manners), churlish (mean and ungracious).
The ten words
Common mistake
discreet (careful, private) is not discrete (separate). brusque and curt are about too few words, not loud ones.
| word | what is wrong (or right) with the manner |
|---|---|
| brusque | abrupt: few words, no warmth, a hurry to be done |
| curt | rudely brief: the shortness itself is the insult |
| boorish | rough and loud: no care for anyone around |
| uncouth | unpolished: never learned the manners at all |
| churlish | mean and ungracious: answering kindness with rudeness |
| urbane | polished and at ease: the opposite of uncouth |
discreet (careful, good at keeping secrets) and discrete (separate: “three discrete steps”) sound the same. Remember: a discreet friend keeps the secret; in discrete the t separates the two e’s.