partly inspired by hotforwords, partly because I thought you might want to improve your prose… I thought I would share with you all a very useful snippit I found on the Mac thesaurus that helps one distinguish between the words: “Urbane”, “sophisticated”, “Cosmopolitan”, “suave”, and “genteel”. If you were confused, as I was, allow me to set you straight.
In his long career as a film star, Cary Grant was known for playing urbane, sophisticated roles. Urbane in this context suggests the social poise and polished manner of someone who is well-traveled and well-bred, while sophisticated means worldly-wise as opposed to naive (: a sophisticated young girl who had spent her childhood in Paris and London).
Cosmopolitan describes someone who is at home anywhere in the world and is free from provincial attitudes (: a cosmopolitan man who could charm women of all ages and nationalities), while suave suggests the gracious social behavior of urbane combined with a certain glibness or superficial politeness (: she was taken in by his expensive clothes and suave manner).
At one time genteel meant well-bred or refined, but nowadays it has connotations of self-consciousness or pretentiousness (: too genteel to drink wine from a juice glass).
