Dictionary

social nicety en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (countable) A social behavior that is engaged in for the purpose of being polite; an act that reflects refinement, decorum, and courtesy.
   • Behaviour in this sense is a very broad term, not limited to notions of politeness, etiquette and social niceties of which members of a culture are aware and might find wanting in a foreigner. 1994, Michael Byram, Teaching-and-learning Language-and-culture, page 139:
   • The new and prosperous class of industrialists and manufacturers began to learn social niceties and extravagances from the aristocracy , but at the same leavened custom and fashion to their own more vigorous way of life. 2021, Arthur Franks, Social Dance: A Short History, page 124:
   • The doctor should use formal greetings and establish rapport by asking about the patient's family, offering a drink, or performing some other social nicety before discussing the patient's medical problem. 2011, Houman A. Sadri, Madelyn Flammia, Intercultural Communication:
   • In other words, expressiveness in the therapist was not just a social nicety, it enhanced recovery. 2020, Juliet Koprowska, Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work, page 37:
2. (uncountable) Adherence to the social norms associated with high social status.
   • This expectation of social nicety may lead to the silencing of voices that speak out for social change by people who are enjoying a privileged social osition and suddenly feel uncomforatable by an apparent lack of "niceness" by voices that demand systemic change theat promotes equity for all. 2018, Elizabeth S. Parks, The Ethics of Listening: Creating Space for Sustainable Dialogue:
   • There is the underlying irony that considerations of social nicety move the hostess, Fran von Brenkfeld to conceal Klemens's death and the Graf's illness under her roof from her guests. · 2007, Helen Chambers, Humor and Irony in Nineteenth-century German Women's Writing, page 19:
   • Accordingly, it is defined by such attributes as Christian monogamous marriage, respect for formal authority, sobriety, a preoccupation with upward mobility, and attention to elite norms of social nicety, decorum, and manners. 2019, Hymie Rubenstein, Coping With Poverty: Adaptive Strategies In A Caribbean Village:

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