How to Use courtly in a Sentence

courtly

1 of 2 adjective

• One is courtly and crisp, the other blustery and brash.
  — Marc Fisher, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2018
• Don’t let the elegant tails and cufflinks, the measured gait and the courtly bows, fool you.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 19 Oct. 2019
• Elliott popped up in that film as one of a few possible Mr. Rights, stealing her heart and the movie through the sheer force of his courtly, mustachioed charm.
  — Justin Chang, latimes.com, 8 June 2017
• Drag Race indeed does thrive on the whiplash of seeing, say, a 6-foot-4-inch ex-con from Compton transform into a courtly Aretha Franklin.
  — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2018
• So this is who Quentin is, with his courtly manner masking all kinds of nastiness.
  — William Lee, chicagotribune.com, 12 Mar. 2018
• All those plumed headpieces and richly textured gowns, those snug doublets flared at the waist, could have come straight out of the Sun King’s courtly entertainments.
  — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, 1 Oct. 2017
• Conan Doyle himself viewed these courtly and martial virtues as sacrosanct.
  — Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2020
• The God of Love abandons courtly sentiments in favor of belligerent rants.
  — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
• Sansa freed herself from a bunch of male abusers, got schooled in realpolitik and became an able and sure-handed leader, disabused of the naïve courtly fantasies that used to seduce her.
  — Anna Silman, The Cut, 28 Aug. 2017
• The score is made up of lively country tunes, courtly dances, thrumming interludes, lyrical laments, and ornate fanfares.
  — Zoë Madonna, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Apr. 2018
• The waiters at the Musso & Frank Grill are like that — bossy and a trifle intimidating, softened by those fire-engine-red bolero jackets and all of those courtly manners.
  — Michael Callahan, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 June 2019
• With a warm, courtly manner that was readily apparent both to stadium crowds and to those who met him face to face, Mr. Graham could be a riveting presence.
  — Laurie Goodstein, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2018
• Those courtly connections are brought out through some of the performances, as these uptight civilized people try to get their bearings in such uncharted wilderness.
  — Mike Giuliano, Howard County Times, 23 June 2017
• Maestri’s Scarpia, though, was pure mastery, with the character’s courtly pretensions expressed with an effective vocal veneer but with no stinting on the character’s dark heart.
  — David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 13 May 2018
• In the second act, once peace has been reëstablished, Balanchine provides a suite of courtly dances, the pinnacle of which is a ravishing pas de deux illustrating love’s Platonic ideal.
  — The New Yorker, 23 May 2017
• Dinkins, meanwhile, was known for his courtly manner, dapper dress, and meticulous grammar and speaking style, which represented a refreshing change for many New Yorkers.
  — Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2020
• The Bridgerton universe has, famously, opened up the racial bounds of traditional period pieces in order to allow greater diversity into its world of courtly intrigue and romance.
  — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, 6 May 2023
• Kojac’s Lee is defined by his courtly mien, deeply ingrained dignity and often startling overconfidence.
  — Eric Marchese, Orange County Register, 10 May 2017
• The quartet took a stately tempo in the minuet, emphasizing its courtly associations.
  — Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 27 Apr. 2021
• Whether true or not, the courtly gossip only further undermined both Joanna’s legitimacy and Henry’s power.
  — National Geographic, 28 Mar. 2019
• Could this courtly gentleman really be capable of brutal savagery?
  — Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2019
• Correspondingly, the lords and ladies eventually must concede that fashionable courtly restraint must give way to more open expressions of interest in romantic pairings.
  — Mike Giuliano, baltimoresun.com, 5 July 2019
• One woman’s courtly voice, accompanied only by her soft fingerpicking on acoustic guitar.
  — James Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Apr. 2023
• Ballad’s third-person past fits Coriolanus’ intellectual courtly existence, all fake smiles and knowing banter with addled professors.
  — Darren Franich, EW.com, 19 May 2020
• The allegorical range is marvelous in tapestries, metalwork, architectural fragments (painted ceiling panels, carved column capitals), game boards and other medieval objects of courtly and monastic life.
  — Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2019
• Kilicdaroglu, the party’s courtly leader, had faced derision for not holding street protests in April, after widespread reports of voting irregularities during a referendum that vastly expanded President Erdogan’s powers.
  — Kareem Fahim, Washington Post, 3 July 2017
• One is courtly and crisp, the other blustery and brash.
  — Marc Fisher, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2018
• Don’t let the elegant tails and cufflinks, the measured gait and the courtly bows, fool you.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 19 Oct. 2019
• Elliott popped up in that film as one of a few possible Mr. Rights, stealing her heart and the movie through the sheer force of his courtly, mustachioed charm.
  — Justin Chang, latimes.com, 8 June 2017
• Drag Race indeed does thrive on the whiplash of seeing, say, a 6-foot-4-inch ex-con from Compton transform into a courtly Aretha Franklin.
  — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2018

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courtly

2 of 2 adverb

• In fact, the reindeer herders turn out to be quite courtly to the fair-haired Norwegian.
  — Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2021
• They were charmed—just as the Windsors were charmed by the courtly and urbane Hartnell.
  — James Collard, Robb Report, 9 Sep. 2022
• Wilson is a gracious, courtly man in person as well on the page.
  — John Horgan, Scientific American, 25 June 2021
• The courtly, soft-spoken son of a judge and a nurse from the Eastern Shore had to be recruited to run most every step of the way.
  — Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2022
• But as the two ride along in a cab, the seemingly courtly elf man gets an idea: mightn’t the slurry woman like to stop by his place for a drink?
  — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 15 Jan. 2021
• In the story, the narrator and his wife rent rooms in a British manor owned by Dr. Selwyn, a courtly and eccentric recluse, and his wife.
  — Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2021
• In this story line, Grant’s foil was always the courtly gentleman, Robert E. Lee.
  — Anne Marshall, The Conversation, 5 Dec. 2022
• Some, like Milton Caniff (or my father), were warm and courtly.
  — Cullen Murphy, Vanities, 9 Aug. 2017
• Dinkins was a calm and courtly figure with a penchant for tennis and formal wear.
  — CBS News, 24 Nov. 2020
• Religion, art, and every aspect of courtly culture were used to exalt the image of the new queen.
  — History Magazine, 29 Dec. 2020
• The subject confronts the viewer with a direct gaze, evoking the courtly portraits of the mid-17th century painter Diego Velázquez.
  — New York Times, 20 Apr. 2021
• From courtly letterpress to modern, there is stationery with the perfect look and feel to let friends and family know to reserve the day just for you two.
  — oregonlive, 4 Sep. 2020
• Alonzo is a courtly looking man with a trim beard and an apologetic bearing.
  — Gene Weingarten, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2021
• Powell, a courtly Virginian, was then the court's moderate, keeping the bench from tilting too far left or right.
  — Bill Mears, Fox News, 27 June 2018
• Count Orlok, played by Max Schreck, is reclusive and antisocial, not a courtly debonair.
  — Roy Schwartz, CNN, 2 Apr. 2022
• And Poe, born in Boston but, thanks to his Virginia upbringing, speaking with a soft, Southern lilt, is far too courtly to fit in with his coarse classmates.
  — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 23 Dec. 2022
• Properly taken at a thumping one beat per measure, the Minuet was more earthy than courtly.
  — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 21 May 2021
• At a time of bombast and insults, his deportment has been invariably civil and courtly.
  — The Editors, National Review, 27 Oct. 2022
• Then comes a moment of wistful clarity: an immaculate phrase descends an octave, with a courtly little turn on the fourth step of the scale.
  — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2022
• Set against the breathtaking backdrop of gray-skied Irish marshlands and crumbling stone castles, the film takes you deep into sacred forests, courtly chambers, and the eerie, glowing depths of a blood-red lake.
  — Liam Hes, Vogue, 5 Aug. 2021
• Alex Hassell plays Ross as a perfect paragon of courtly cynicism, always obliging and never to be trusted.
  — New York Times, 22 Dec. 2021
• Eventually, even the shocks of courtly excess — The Great's raison d'être — make way for a more conventional tale of royal intrigue.
  — Inkoo Kang, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 May 2020
• Relief sculptures, on loan from the British Museum, that depict warfare, hunting, courtly life, etc.
  — Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2022
• The minuet, taken in one beat per measure, sounded alternately earthy and courtly.
  — Dallas News, 25 Mar. 2022
• It’s there in his courtly intelligence, his gentle dot-eyed valor, and the way that Sudeikis clearly feels comfortable acting from behind a folksy drawl.
  — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Oct. 2021
• Kind and courtly, but keenly sensitive to slights, Hall became the Wildcats’ head coach after Rupp grudgingly retired in 1972.
  — Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, 16 Jan. 2022
• The courtly senator with chiseled features and a thick shock of gray hair was so popular with Virginia voters that Democrats did not bother to challenge him in 2002 for his re-election to his fifth term.
  — CBS News, 26 May 2021
• The story is of a prosperous middle-class tailor’s son who tries to acquire the manners of an aristocrat, from courtly dancing and fencing to grand banqueting.
  — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 20 Feb. 2021
• Warner, a courtly figure with chiseled features and a thick shock of gray hair, was so popular with Virginia voters that Democrats did not bother to challenge him in 2002 for his re-election to his fifth term.
  — Eileen Putman, Anchorage Daily News, 26 May 2021
• During the five-week course, students can expect to learn about courtly fashions, the craze for crinoline and how members of the royal family influence fashion today.
  — Jennifer Nalewicki, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Apr. 2020

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024