adj. 1
Tender and amiable; of a considerate or kindly disposition.
Stuart is a gentle man; he would never hurt you.
adj. 2
Soft and mild rather than hard or severe.
I felt something touch my shoulder; it was gentle and a little slimy.
v. 1
To become gentle.
v. 2
To break; to tame; to domesticate.

Related words

Word family: gentlefolk gentlefolks gentlegirl gentleman gentleness gentlewoman gently
Phrases: gentle sex gentle lemur

Forms

Past participle: gentled
e.g. gentled → calmed, pacified, soothed, mollified…

Choose the right word

or Gentle?

Gentle describes the natural disposition; tame, that which is subdued by training; mild implies a temper which is, by nature, not easily provoked; meek, a spirit which has been schooled to mildness by discipline or suffering. The lamb is gentle; the domestic fowl is tame; John, the Apostle, was mild; Moses was meek.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Example sentences

sweet Those grapes look sweet, but in fact they're sour.
mild Spring brings mild weather after the cold winter.
polite My mother taught me that it's not polite to point.
tame The birds are so tame they will eat from your hand.
noble The country was governed by a French noble family.
genteel Oh, how genteel and gallant men are when they want something from a poor woman!

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
gentle		rising
sweet		rising
mild		steady
polite		rising
tame		rising
noble		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: kind¹, easy², blue¹, soft¹, calm¹, mild¹, tame¹, meek¹
5 letters: light¹, sweet¹, quiet², noble², tamed¹, lithe¹
6 letters: polite², soothe¹, placid², docile², pacify³, silken², svelte¹, lenify
7 letters: appease², amiable⁴, placate², entitle³, genteel², assuage², mollify³, ennoble³, gruntle
8 letters: friendly², peaceful², harmless², gracious², soothing², merciful³, tranquil², highbred
9 letters: indulgent³, patrician³, peaceable³
10 letters: respectful³, cultivated⁴, conciliate
12 letters: aristocratic⁵
13 letters: compassionate⁴
14 letters: aristocratical

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (easy² = 2 syllables).