polite
/pəˈlaɪt/adjective
polite is spelled P-O-L-I-T-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, polite means “Well-mannered, civilized” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in polite?
| Letters | 6: P-O-L-I-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.3 times per million words; the 8,036th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is polite?
Polite appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce polite?
- /pəˈlaɪt/
Polite has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-polite.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with polite?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as polite.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: piolet.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of polite
- politer comparative
- more polite comparative
- politest superlative
- most polite superlative
- polites present, singular, he/she/it
- politing participle, present
- polited participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does polite mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Well-mannered, civilized.
It's not polite to use a mobile phone in a restaurant.
- 2
obsoleteSmooth, polished, burnished.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo polish; to refine; to render polite.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Polite in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense well-mannered:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | poli |
| German | höflich |
| Portuguese | educado, polido, cortês |
| Spanish | cortés, educado, de buena educación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does polite come from?
From Latin polītus (“polished”), past participle of poliō (“to polish, smooth”); see polish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).