How to Use courtly in a Sentence

courtly

1 of 2 adjective
  • So this is who Quentin is, with his courtly manner masking all kinds of nastiness.
    — William Lee, chicagotribune.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • This behavior might seem creepy in a man without Hanks’s courtly charm.
    — Helen Shaw, New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2025
  • Conan Doyle himself viewed these courtly and martial virtues as sacrosanct.
    — Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2020
  • But Ed presents himself with a no-frills courtly reticence that’s equal parts politeness and caution.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 30 Aug. 2025
  • In France, a courtlier breed of tooth pullers began to cater to the affluent in the late seventeenth century.
    — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
  • 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 God of Love abandons courtly sentiments in favor of belligerent rants.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
  • All this evidence suggests that the earliest tarot deck may have been used for little more than a courtly card game, an exquisite plaything for the super-rich.
    — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 25 Aug. 2025
  • 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
  • These firms now pay their rainmakers like Wall Street stars and have dropped their courtly scruples for relentless commercialism.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 5 Feb. 2026
  • Could this courtly gentleman really be capable of brutal savagery?
    — Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2019
  • 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
  • Karl August’s strategy for resisting the forward movement of history was to dust off the courtly practices of the ancien régime.
    — Merve Emre, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
  • One woman’s courtly voice, accompanied only by her soft fingerpicking on acoustic guitar.
    — James Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 27 Apr. 2023
  • The royal court, along with the palaces of nobles, became centers of elegance and display, with ceremonies and outward grandeur being an important part of courtly culture.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2026
  • The quartet took a stately tempo in the minuet, emphasizing its courtly associations.
    — Tim Diovanni, Dallas News, 27 Apr. 2021
  • 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
  • For any living room that could use a charming focal point, this number from MacKenzie Childs in its signature courtly check indicates style and design know-how.
    — Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 22 Oct. 2025
  • 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
  • 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
  • Whether true or not, the courtly gossip only further undermined both Joanna’s legitimacy and Henry’s power.
    — National Geographic, 28 Mar. 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
  • 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 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • His Buena Vista Social Club premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and the courtly gents from Havana beat out their electrifying rhythms.
    — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 2 June 2026
  • He was reduced to a nominal head with no real authority, though courtly protocols were maintained; British officials outwardly treated him with respect and courtesy while gradually stripping him of the last remnants of symbolic power.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Mar. 2026
  • And so, despite some emotionally satiating patriotic rhetoric on the campaign trail, Carney was deferential and complimentary to Trump on his courtly visit to the Oval Office shortly after winning the election.
    — Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
  • The Tale of Genji ’s early chapters are rooted in fairy-tale monogatari, but the book soon metamorphoses into its own strange thing, a courtly romance that follows Prince Genji over his half century of life, and then, after Genji’s death, takes up the lives of the next generation.
    — Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025

courtly

2 of 2 adverb
  • Wilson is a gracious, courtly man in person as well on the page.
    — John Horgan, Scientific American, 25 June 2021
  • In fact, the reindeer herders turn out to be quite courtly to the fair-haired Norwegian.
    — Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2021
  • Dinkins was a calm and courtly figure with a penchant for tennis and formal wear.
    — CBS News, 24 Nov. 2020
  • They were charmed—just as the Windsors were charmed by the courtly and urbane Hartnell.
    — James Collard, Robb Report, 9 Sep. 2022
  • Some, like Milton Caniff (or my father), were warm and courtly.
    — Cullen Murphy, Vanities, 9 Aug. 2017
  • Religion, art, and every aspect of courtly culture were used to exalt the image of the new queen.
    — History Magazine, 29 Dec. 2020
  • At a time of bombast and insults, his deportment has been invariably civil and courtly.
    — The Editors, National Review, 27 Oct. 2022
  • Properly taken at a thumping one beat per measure, the Minuet was more earthy than courtly.
    — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 21 May 2021
  • Carrère’s manner was measured, almost courtly; his smile resembles a wince.
    — Ian Parker, The New Yorker, 4 July 2022
  • The minuet, taken in one beat per measure, sounded alternately earthy and courtly.
    — Dallas News, 25 Mar. 2022
  • Rococo costumes are done up in garish colors; courtly gestures go hand in hand with libertinage.
    — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 13 June 2022
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • But where the Baron is timid and bumbling, Krasznahorkai is expansive, charming, and courtly.
    — Merve Emre, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
  • His gentle, courtly, and often playful manner quickly put Berg’s anxieties to rest.
    — Calvin Tomkins, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2019
  • In person, Pelli was courtly, diplomatic, and at times, poetic.
    — Steven Litt, cleveland.com, 28 July 2019
  • Alex Hassell plays Ross as a perfect paragon of courtly cynicism, always obliging and never to be trusted.
    — New York Times, 22 Dec. 2021
  • Relief sculptures, on loan from the British Museum, that depict warfare, hunting, courtly life, etc.
    — Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2022
  • The waltz and polonaise patterns for a courtly ensemble are serene — and, due to the repetitive nature of Tchaikovsky’s third symphony, sometimes a tad dull.
    — Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
  • 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
  • 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, 28 Apr. 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
  • 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
  • In fact, Cartier hardly needed a courtly setting to drive home the message that these pieces were destined for modern royals, both the literal and figurative kind.
    — Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 29 June 2022
  • His early writing reflected the popular style of the French troubadours, courtly poet-musicians who sang of their longing for a beautiful lady.
    — Claudia Roth Pierpont, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
  • Johnston, a courtly veteran hotelier accustomed to catering to the rich and famous, might seem an unlikely choice to voice bedrock American values in dark times.
    — Harvey Solomon, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2020
  • His courtly King Coat, however, took on a whole new meaning during his conversation with Alicia Keys.
    — Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2020
  • 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

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

Last Updated: