Gentleman vs. Man: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
A gentleman is a man who exhibits chivalry, courtesy, or a distinguished demeanor, while a man is any adult male human.
Key Differences
A gentleman typically refers to a man who is polite, well-mannered, and considerate of others, showing qualities of chivalry and respect. In contrast, the term man simply denotes an adult male human, without any implications regarding his character or behavior.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Historically, gentleman indicated a man of high social position or noble birth. Today, it's more about behavior and conduct than social status. On the other hand, man as a term is neutral regarding social standing, focusing solely on gender and age.
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Dec 07, 2023
Being a gentleman often involves adhering to social etiquettes and displaying characteristics like honesty, kindness, and respectfulness. Conversely, being a man doesn’t inherently include these behavioral expectations.
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Dec 07, 2023
The term gentleman can also imply a sense of sophistication or refinement, often associated with good education or a certain upbringing. The term man, however, is universally applicable to all adult male individuals, irrespective of their education, upbringing, or manners.
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Dec 07, 2023
In modern usage, gentleman is sometimes used to address male individuals in a formal or polite context, while man is used in a wide range of contexts, both formally and informally, without connotations of politeness or respectability.
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Dec 07, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Social Connotation
Often implies politeness and good manners
No inherent social connotations
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Dec 07, 2023
Historical Context
Historically related to nobility or upper class
Always denoted adult male individuals
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Dec 07, 2023
Behavioral Implications
Implies refined behavior and chivalry
No behavioral implications
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Dec 07, 2023
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Gentleman and Man Definitions
Gentleman
Man of Honor
His actions at the charity event proved him to be a gentleman.
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Dec 07, 2023
Gentleman
Polite Individual
The gentleman offered his seat to the elderly woman.
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Dec 07, 2023
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Gentleman
Well-Mannered Man
As a gentleman, he always minds his manners at the dinner table.
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Dec 07, 2023
Gentleman
Respectful Male
He is known as a gentleman for his respectful attitude towards everyone.
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Dec 07, 2023
Man
A human or an adult male human belonging to a specific occupation, group, nationality, or other category. Often used in combination
A milkman.
A congressman.
A freeman.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
A man of gentle or noble birth or superior social position
"He's too much a gentleman to be a scholar" (Aphra Behn).
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
A well-mannered and considerate man with high standards of proper behavior. See Usage Note at lady.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A male human endowed with qualities, such as strength, considered characteristic of manhood.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
A man of independent means who does not need to have a wage-paying job.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
A man of gentle but not noble birth, particularly a man of means (originally ownership of property) who does not work for a living but has no official status in a peerage; an armiferous man ranking below a knight.
Being a gentleman, Robert was entitled to shove other commoners into the gongpit but he still had to jump out of the way of the knights to avoid the same fate himself.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
An effeminate or oversophisticated man.
Well, la-di-da, aren't you just a proper gentleman?
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
(Informal) Used as a familiar form of address for a man
See here, my good man!.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
An amateur or dabbler in any field, particularly those of independent means.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
(Games) Any of the pieces used in a board game, such as chess or checkers.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
(cricket) An amateur player, particularly one whose wealth permits him to forego payment.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
(Nautical) A ship. Often used in combination
A merchantman.
A man-of-war.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
A man well born; one of good family; one above the condition of a yeoman.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
Often Man(Slang) A person or group felt to be in a position of power or authority. Used with the
"Their writing mainly concerns the street life—the pimp, the junky, the forces of drug addiction, exploitation at the hands of 'the man'" (Black World).
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
A man, irrespective of condition; - used esp. in the plural (= citizens; people), in addressing men in popular assemblies, etc.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
An adult male human.
The show is especially popular with middle-aged men.
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Oct 19, 2023
Gentleman
A manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer;
Jeeves was Bertie Wooster's man
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A human, a person regardless of gender, usually an adult. See usage notes.
Every man for himself
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
(collective) All humans collectively: mankind, humankind, humanity. Sometimes capitalized as Man.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A male person, usually an adult; a (generally adult male) sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
An adult male who has, to an eminent degree, qualities considered masculine, such as strength, integrity, and devotion to family; a mensch.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A male enthusiast or devotee; a male who is very fond of or devoted to a specified kind of thing. Used as the last element of a compound.
Some people prefer apple pie, but me, I’m a cherry pie man.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A person, usually male, who has duties or skills associated with a specified thing. Used as the last element of a compound.
I wanted to be a guitar man on a road tour, but instead I’m a flag man on a road crew.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A male who belongs to a particular group: an employee, a student or alumnus, a representative, etc.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
(sports) A player on whom another is playing, with the intent of limiting their attacking impact.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
(transitive) To supply (something) with staff or crew (of either sex).
The ship was manned with a small crew.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
(transitive) To take up position in order to operate (something).
Man the machine guns!
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
To brace (oneself), to fortify or steel (oneself) in a manly way. Compare man up.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
To accustom (a raptor or other type of bird) to the presence of people.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A human being; - opposed to beast.
These men went about wide, and man found they none,But fair country, and wild beast many [a] one.
The king is but a man, as I am; the violet smells to him as it doth to me.
'Tain't a fit night out for man nor beast!
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
An adult male person; a grown-up male person, as distinguished from a woman or a child.
When I became a man, I put away childish things.
Ceneus, a woman once, and once a man.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
The human race; mankind.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion.
The proper study of mankind is man.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
The male portion of the human race.
Woman has, in general, much stronger propensity than man to the discharge of parental duties.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
One possessing in a high degree the distinctive qualities of manhood; one having manly excellence of any kind.
This was the noblest Roman of them all . . . the elementsSo mixed in him that Nature might stand upAnd say to all the world "This was a man!"
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
An adult male servant; also, a vassal; a subject.
Like master, like man.
The vassal, or tenant, kneeling, ungirt, uncovered, and holding up his hands between those of his lord, professed that he did become his man from that day forth, of life, limb, and earthly honor.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A term of familiar address at one time implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste; as, Come, man, we 've no time to lose! In the latter half of the 20th century it became used in a broader sense as simply a familiar and informal form of address, but is not used in business or formal situations; as, hey, man! You want to go to a movie tonight?.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A married man; a husband; - correlative to wife.
I pronounce that they are man and wife.
Every wife ought to answer for her man.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
One, or any one, indefinitely; - a modified survival of the Saxon use of man, or mon, as an indefinite pronoun.
A man can not make him laugh.
A man would expect to find some antiquities; but all they have to show of this nature is an old rostrum of a Roman ship.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
One of the piece with which certain games, as chess or draughts, are played.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
To supply with men; to furnish with a sufficient force or complement of men, as for management, service, defense, or the like; to guard; as, to man a ship, boat, or fort.
See how the surly Warwick mans the wall !
They man their boats, and all their young men arm.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
To furnish with strength for action; to prepare for efficiency; to fortify.
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
An adult male person (as opposed to a woman);
There were two women and six men on the bus
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
Someone who serves in the armed forces; a member of a military force;
Two men stood sentry duty
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
The generic use of the word to refer to any human being;
It was every man for himself
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
All of the inhabitants of the earth;
All the world loves a lover
She always used `humankind' because `mankind' seemed to slight the women
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A male subordinate;
The chief stationed two men outside the building
He awaited word from his man in Havana
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
An adult male person who has a manly character (virile and courageous competent);
The army will make a man of you
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A male person who plays a significant role (husband or lover or boyfriend) in the life of a particular woman;
She takes good care of her man
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
A manservant who acts as a personal attendant to his employer;
Jeeves was Bertie Wooster's man
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
Game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games;
He taught me to set up the men on the chess board
He sacrificed a piece to get a strategic advantage
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Oct 19, 2023
Man
Take charge of a certain job; occupy a certain work place;
Mr. Smith manned the reception desk in the morning
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Oct 19, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
Does the term man imply manners or etiquette?
No, it simply refers to gender and adult age.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Is being a gentleman related to social status?
Historically, yes, but now it's more about behavior than status.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Does a gentleman have to be of noble birth?
No, modern usage focuses on behavior, not birth.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Can a young boy be called a gentleman?
Typically, a gentleman refers to an adult male, but the term can be used for a boy displaying gentlemanly qualities.
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Dec 07, 2023
Does man denote any specific behavior?
No, it does not imply any particular behavior.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Is every man a gentleman?
No, not every man is a gentleman; it depends on his conduct.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Can the term man have different meanings?
Yes, but it primarily refers to an adult male human.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
What defines a gentleman?
A gentleman is defined by his polite and respectful behavior.
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Dec 07, 2023
Is a gentleman always well-educated?
Not necessarily, but education often accompanies gentlemanly behavior.
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Dec 07, 2023
Is the concept of a gentleman outdated?
The concept has evolved but remains relevant for polite and respectful behavior.
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Dec 07, 2023
Are the terms man and gentleman interchangeable?
No, they have different connotations and uses.
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Dec 07, 2023
Can anyone become a gentleman?
Yes, through cultivating respectful and courteous behavior.
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Dec 07, 2023
Is man used universally?
Yes, it's used globally to refer to adult male individuals.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Are there cultural variations in defining a gentleman?
Yes, cultural norms can influence what is considered gentlemanly.
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Dec 07, 2023
Does a gentleman imply a certain level of sophistication?
Often, yes, it can imply sophistication or refinement.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Can the term gentleman be subjective?
Yes, perceptions of what makes a gentleman can vary.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Does the term man reflect on a person's character?
No, it simply denotes their gender and adult age.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
Can the term gentleman be used in formal situations?
Yes, it's often used to address male individuals formally.
Shumaila Saeed
Dec 07, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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