What does gracious mean?
Word: Gracious
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Gracious means kind, polite and generous, especially to guests or to people who have less power. It can also mean elegant and comfortable, as in gracious living.
Synonyms: courteous, kind, polite, generous
Antonyms: discourteous, ungracious
How do you spell gracious?
Syllables: gra - cious
Tricky part: Grace drops its e and takes -ious, so the sh sound is spelt ci. Writers often put s or sh instead, or keep the e.
Watch out for: grasious, gracius, graceous
Memory tip: A gracious host shows grace: keep the c of grace and swap its final e for ious.
Gracious in a sentence
Example 1: Our hosts in Jaipur were gracious and made us feel at home.
Example 2: She was gracious in defeat and congratulated the winner.
Example 3: The gracious old bungalow had wide verandas and tall windows.
Fun Fact
The British national anthem opens with 'God save our gracious King', using gracious in its old sense of a ruler showing kindness to the people.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of 'gracious' as it is used in the sentence:
The hostess was gracious to every guest, even those who arrived uninvited.
a) rude
b) busy
c) nervous
d) cheerful
Show answer
a) rude. Rude is the opposite of gracious; a cheerful, busy or nervous host could still be kind.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The captain gave a gracious speech after losing the final, thanking the winning team, the groundsmen and the suporters who had travelled from far away.
a) captain
b) gracious
c) suporters
d) groundsmen
Show answer
c) suporters. Support doubles its p: sup-port.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. ambicious 2. delicous 3. consious 4. gracious
a) very pleasant to taste
b) having a strong wish to succeed
c) aware of what is happening
d) warm and courteous towards others
Show answer
d) warm and courteous towards others. Delicious needs an i before ous, ambitious is spelt with a t, and conscious hides a c after the s.
Mingle-Mangle
Unscramble the jumbled word in the sentence and choose the correct word:
Our socuigar neighbour invited the whole street for tea on Diwali.
a) precious
b) gracious
c) graceful
d) curious
Show answer
b) gracious. A neighbour who invites the whole street is gracious; graceful, precious and curious cannot be made from these letters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A gracious winner is one who ____.
a) laughs at the players who lost
b) is kind to the people who lost
c) refuses to shake any hands
d) leaves before the prize-giving
Show answer
b) is kind to the people who lost
2. Which reply after losing a match is the most gracious?
a) 'The umpire helped you win.'
b) 'I was not even trying hard.'
c) 'You were just lucky today.'
d) 'Well played, you deserved to win.'
Show answer
d) 'Well played, you deserved to win.'
