The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word REFINED
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
R
E
F
I
N
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D
More clues leading to the result REFINED
- Part of army punished for discriminating
- Distilled brandy put in wine
- Polite – looking embarrassed about penalty
- Upper-class punished again?
- Punished for second parking offence? That’s nice!
- Embarrassed about punishment, becoming graceful
- Polished broadcast of discovery by engineers
- Soldiers getting punished to become improved
- Cultured and splendid in crimson
- Soldiers given penalty for being civilized
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Polite" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case polite = refined.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does REFINED mean?
REFINED verb- To purify; reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; to free from impurities.
- To become pure; to be cleared of impure matter.
- To purify of coarseness, vulgarity, inelegance, etc.; to polish.
- To improve in accuracy, delicacy, or excellence.
- To make nice or subtle.
- The refined form of a commodity, as opposed to its raw or generic form.
- Precise, freed from imprecision, particularly:
- Cultured, freed from vulgarity, particularly:
- Purified, reduced in or freed from impurities, particularly:
- (of a market) Dealing in a refined product such as sugar or petroleum.