civil

Universal Words adjective 1 [onlybeforenoun] connected with the people who live in a country: civil unrest (= that is caused by groups of people within a country) seealsoCIVILWAR 2 [onlybeforenoun] connected with the state rather than with religion or with the armed forces: a civil marriage ceremony 3 [onlybeforenoun] involving personal legal matters and not criminal law: a civil court compareCRIMINAL seealsoCIVILLAW 4 polite in a formal way but possibly not friendly: The less time I have to spend being civil to him the better! OPPUNCIVIL civilly adverb: She greeted him civilly but with no sign of affection.