English

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Etymology

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From gentle +‎ -some.

Adjective

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gentlesome (comparative more gentlesome, superlative most gentlesome)

  1. Marked by gentleness; mild; tender
    • 2005, Jeremy Hoemsen, Okanagan University College, Bible Prophecies Revealed:
      A timid and gentlesome frog approached her, gravely bowed in a groove below her flexed kneecap.
    • 2008, Liz Jensen, My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time:
      'Yes, Else,' I said, my voice quiet & most gentlesome. “You are not mistaken, & then I raised my veil & smiled wide, wide, wide. [...]”
    • 2015, Bruce Olds, Raising Holy Hell:
      Not that he weren't capable of a gentlesome word or a tender touch, but such as that come to him less natural than any living creature I ever seen.