Gentry
Common American surname
Gentry refers to people of good social standing, ranking below nobility but above common folk.
Historically, the gentry were landowners who lived on inherited wealth without working trades: the landed gentry of rural England.
The term now applies loosely to any respectable or well-bred class: suburban gentry, literary gentry.
It can carry ironic or mildly derisive undertones when applied to those who affect refinement.
Purified or cultured
- polite societyRespectable social elite
- respectableWorthy of regard
- gentlefolkPersons of high birth
- bourgeoisieCapitalist ownership class
merchant class · professional class · status · propriety · manners · decorum · cultivated · educated
Came to rest
- nobilityTitled ruling class
- manorLanded aristocratic residence
- estateProperty and grounds
- squireKnight's noble assistant
peerage · hereditary · titled · lineage · landowning · baronet · country house · pedigree
Independent cultivator or naval clerk
- feudalOf tiered landownership
- tenantOne who rents property
- enclosureConfined, bordered space
- titheTenth for clergy
parish · vestry · magistrate · justice of the peace · lord of the manor · demesne · primogeniture · entail
refined
Purified or cultured
- polite societyRespectable social elite
- respectableWorthy of regard
- gentlefolkPersons of high birth
bourgeoisie · merchant class · professional class · status · propriety · manners · decorum · cultivated · educated · leisured
landed
Came to rest
squire · peerage · hereditary · titled · lineage · landowning · baronet · country house · pedigree · birthright
yeoman
Independent cultivator or naval clerk
tithe · parish · vestry · magistrate · justice of the peace · lord of the manor · demesne · primogeniture · entail · freeholder
Gentrypeasantry
Rural working class
commoners · working class · lower class · common people · serfs
Gentrypeasants
Low-ranking agricultural workers
laborers · working class · tenant farmers · villeins · wage earners
- be gentleAct with care
- gentle giantLarge but kindhearted being
- gentle breezeMild movement of air
- gentle reminderPolite prompt to remember
- gentle nudge
- perfect gentlemanMan of exemplary manners
gentle, genteel, gentility, gentleman, gentlewoman, gentlemanly, gentleness, gently, gentrification