noble adjective - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of noble adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

noble

adjective
 
/ˈnəʊbl/
 
/ˈnəʊbl/
(comparative nobler
 
/ˈnəʊblə(r)/
 
/ˈnəʊblər/
, superlative noblest
 
/ˈnəʊblɪst/
 
/ˈnəʊblɪst/
)
jump to other results
  1. having or showing fine personal qualities that people admire, such as courage, honesty and care for others
    • a noble leader
    • noble ideals
    • He died for a noble cause.
    • She died in a noble cause.
    • It was very noble of you to go so far to take him home.
    opposite ignobleTopics Personal qualitiesc1
  2. belonging to a family of high social rank (= belonging to the nobility) synonym aristocratic
    • He was a young man of noble birth.
    • one of the noblest families in Portugal
    • Intermarriage between the noble families means that all the counts are related.
    Topics People in societyc1
  3. very impressive in size or quality synonym splendid
    • a noble building
  4. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French, from Latin (g)nobilis ‘noted, high-born’, from an Indo-European root shared by know.
See noble in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee noble in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
obviously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
OPAL spoken words
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day