with a good grace
Preserved but no longer current.
Also seen as: with a bad grace
Meaning · English
Gracefully or ungracefully, willingly or unwillingly. With a good grace has an air of rather forced acqui- escence.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “with a good grace” mean?
Gracefully or ungracefully, willingly or unwillingly. With a good grace has an air of rather forced acqui- escence.
Is “with a good grace” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.