Definition of URBANE

urbane

Meanings

Adjective Satellite

  • showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience
    • "maintained an urbane tone in his letters"

Adj

  • Of a person (usually a man): having refined manners; courteous, polite, suave.
  • Of an act, expression, etc.: suited to a person of refined manners; elegant, sophisticated.
  • 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”).

Origin / 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).

Antonyms

rustic, unurbane

Scrabble Score: 8

urbane is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
urbane is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
urbane is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

urbane is a valid Words With Friends word