How to Use courteous in a Sentence

courteous

adjective
  • The clerks were helpful and courteous.
  • Please just keep your shoes on to stay safe and be courteous to others.
    — Carin Ryan, Travel + Leisure, 27 June 2026
  • Once in a while, someone is not courteous.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 10 Apr. 2026
  • For a sit-in at a lunch counter, they were told, sit up straight, be courteous and don’t strike back.
    — Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, 10 June 2024
  • What’s a critic to do in the face of such a courteous entreaty?
    — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2023
  • The men who delivered it were so very nice, prompt and courteous.
    — Olivia Evans, Women's Health, 22 Apr. 2023
  • Pleasant and courteous, Sri says and does all the right things.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Sep. 2024
  • This approach would not just be more courteous but more cautious.
    — Annie Lane, oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2020
  • But the lines of what is courteous and expected of guests can be blurry.
    — Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Nov. 2025
  • But the lines of what is courteous and expected of guests can get blurry.
    — Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Nov. 2024
  • Maybe just save the ice chewing for the comfort of your own home to be extra courteous to strangers.
    — Olivia Muenter, Woman's Day, 8 June 2022
  • Here are four tips from Gottsman and Swann to be a courteous guest.
    — Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 29 Nov. 2025
  • The courteous thing to do is reduce your speed to idle rather than blowing past others at high speed.
    — Matt Williams, Dallas News, 1 July 2022
  • Being courteous and gentle is thought to bring good fortune and luck.
    — Avery Newmark, ajc, 1 Feb. 2022
  • The conductor was courteous, and the train was full — a rare sight most weekends.
    — Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2024
  • When passing others, be courteous and make your presence known to them.
    — Dallas News, 31 May 2022
  • Gentle, courteous, but with a manic gleam, a taste for mayhem.
    — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 8 July 2020
  • Uzbeks are amazing hosts and will go out of their way to be helpful and courteous to visitors.
    — Joshua Jung, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2022
  • Staff was very courteous & friendly.
    — Lexi Lane, PEOPLE, 21 June 2026
  • My downstairs neighbor was a courteous young man who drove a Lexus and kept a pair of pet monkeys.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Apr. 2022
  • Although the man was courteous, the nurse and her colleagues reported him for fraud.
    — Karen Kaplan Science and Medicine Editor, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2021
  • The human on the other end has always been helpful and courteous.
    — Larry Magid, The Mercury News, 31 Oct. 2024
  • Staff are seemingly always on hand and ready to help, well-informed and courteous.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Feb. 2026
  • This one should be common sense, but please be courteous to both the staff and other customers by showing up on time.
    — Maggie Gillette, Better Homes & Gardens, 27 Nov. 2024
  • Trader Joe’s, customers said, has the most courteous cashiers.
    — Katherine Peralta, charlotteobserver, 11 May 2017
  • Service at Babani’s is swift and courteous, and the food comes out lightning fast.
    — Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2017
  • Your selfish needs rule over being courteous and polite.
    — Glae Thien, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Inside, the crowd was impassioned but courteous; even the river guides had tucked in their shirts.
    — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 14 May 2026
  • Described as courteous, hard-working, and helpful who doesn't take the spotlight and does the right things.
    — Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 22 Dec. 2024
  • Her boyfriend is sometimes, but not always, respectful or courteous to us.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 10 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'courteous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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