NOBLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does noble mean? 

• NOBLE (noun)
  The noun NOBLE has 1 sense:

1. a titled peer of the realm

  Familiarity information: NOBLE used as a noun is very rare.

• NOBLE (adjective)
  The adjective NOBLE has 4 senses:

1. impressive in appearance

2. of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times

3. having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character

4. inert especially toward oxygen

  Familiarity information: NOBLE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NOBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A titled peer of the realm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Lord; noble; nobleman

Hypernyms ("noble" is a kind of...):

male aristocrat (a man who is an aristocrat)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "noble"):

baron (a nobleman (in various countries) of varying rank)

viscount ((in various countries) a son or younger brother or a count)

thane (a feudal lord or baron)

sire (a title of address formerly used for a man of rank and authority)

peer (a nobleman (duke or marquis or earl or viscount or baron) who is a member of the British peerage)

palatine; palsgrave ((Middle Ages) the lord of a palatinate who exercised sovereign powers over his lands)

milord (a term of address for an English lord)

mesne lord (a feudal lord who was lord to his own tenants on land held from a superior lord)

marquess; marquis (nobleman (in various countries) ranking above a count)

margrave (a German nobleman ranking above a count (corresponding in rank to a British marquess))

grandee (a nobleman of highest rank in Spain or Portugal)

duke (a nobleman (in various countries) of high rank)

count (a nobleman (in various countries) having rank equal to a British earl)

burgrave (a nobleman ruling a German castle and surrounding grounds by hereditary right)

armiger (a nobleman entitled to bear heraldic arms)

Instance hyponyms:

Don Juan (a legendary Spanish nobleman and philanderer who became the hero of many poems and plays and operas)

Mortimer; Roger de Mortimer (English nobleman who deposed Edward II and was executed by Edward III (1287-1330))

• NOBLE (adjective)

Comparative: nobler   
Superlative: noblest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impressive in appearance

Synonyms:

baronial; imposing; noble; stately

Context example:

stately columns

Similar:

impressive (making a strong or vivid impression)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times

Context example:

of noble birth

Similar:

august; grand; lordly (of or befitting a lord)

royal (being of the rank of a monarch)

queenlike; queenly (having the rank of or resembling or befitting a queen)

princely (having the rank of or befitting a prince)

monarchal; monarchical (having the characteristics of or befitting or worthy of a monarch)

kinglike; kingly (having the rank of or resembling or befitting a king)

imperial; majestic; purple; regal; royal (belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler)

coroneted; highborn; titled (belonging to the peerage)

aristocratic; aristocratical; blue; blue-blooded; gentle; patrician (belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy)

Antonym:

lowborn (of humble birth or origins)

Derivation:

nobility (a privileged class holding hereditary titles)

nobility (the state of being of noble birth)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character

Context example:

noble deeds

Similar:

dignifying; ennobling (investing with dignity or honor)

elevated; exalted; grand; high-flown; high-minded; idealistic; lofty; noble-minded; rarefied; rarified; sublime (of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style)

greathearted; magnanimous (noble and generous in spirit)

Also:

honorable; honourable (worthy of being honored; entitled to honor and respect)

Attribute:

grandeur; magnanimousness; nobility; nobleness (the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct)

Antonym:

ignoble (completely lacking nobility in character or quality or purpose)

Derivation:

nobility (the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Inert especially toward oxygen

Context example:

noble metals include gold and silver and platinum

Similar:

unreactive ((chemistry) not reacting chemically)

 Context examples 

“What a noble fellow!” you will exclaim.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I told him what the noble spirit that was gone, had given me in charge to say at parting.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Whose is this noble city?” said she.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They attach themselves as a rule to some great noble or boyar, and call themselves by his name.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He had killed man, the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of the law of club and fang.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

In the shape of Miss Ingram; a noble and beautiful woman,—your bride.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Strike at the noble and the priest shrieks, strike at priest and the noble lays his hand upon glaive.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is very good of you—very noble of you.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Dance, said the squire, you are a very noble fellow.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The creative joy in its noblest form!

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)