deference

deference
    n 1: a courteous expression (by word or deed) of esteem or
         regard; "his deference to her wishes was very flattering";
         "be sure to give my respects to the dean" [syn:
         {deference}, {respect}]
    2: courteous regard for people's feelings; "in deference to your
       wishes"; "out of respect for his privacy" [syn: {deference},
       {respect}, {respectfulness}]
    3: a disposition or tendency to yield to the will of others
       [syn: {complaisance}, {compliance}, {compliancy},
       {obligingness}, {deference}]
    

Deference \Def"er*ence\, n. [F. d['e]f['e]rence. See 3d
   {Defer}.]
   A yielding of judgment or preference from respect to the
   wishes or opinion of another; submission in opinion; regard;
   respect; complaisance.
   [1913 Webster]

         Deference to the authority of thoughtful and sagacious
         men.                                     --Whewell.
   [1913 Webster]

         Deference is the most complicate, the most indirect,
         and the most elegant of all compliments. --Shenstone.

   Syn: {Deference}, {Reverence}, {Respect}.

   Usage: Deference marks an inclination to yield one's opinion,
          and to acquiesce in the sentiments of another in
          preference to one's own. Respect marks the estimation
          that we have for another, which makes us look to him
          as worthy of high confidence for the qualities of his
          mind and heart. Reverence denotes a mingling of fear
          with a high degree of respect and esteem. Age, rank,
          dignity, and personal merit call for deference;
          respect should be paid to the wise and good; reverence
          is due to God, to the authors of our being, and to the
          sanctity of the laws.
          [1913 Webster]
    

93 Moby Thesaurus words for "deference":
      acceptance, acquiescence, admiration, adoration, affability,
      agreeableness, allegiance, amenity, apotheosis, appreciation,
      approbation, approval, assent, assigned task, awe, bounden duty,
      breathless adoration, burden, business, call of duty, charge,
      civility, comity, commitment, complaisance, compliance, consent,
      considerateness, consideration, courteousness, courtesy,
      dedication, deification, devoir, devotion,
      duties and responsibilities, duty, esteem, estimation, ethics,
      exaggerated respect, favor, fealty, gracefulness, graciousness,
      great respect, hero worship, high regard, homage, honor, idolatry,
      idolization, imperative, kneeling, line of duty, loyalty, mission,
      must, nonopposal, nonopposition, nonresistance, obedience,
      obeisance, obligation, onus, ought, passiveness, passivity, place,
      politeness, prestige, regard, resignation, resignedness, respect,
      respectfulness, reverence, reverential regard, self-imposed duty,
      solicitousness, solicitude, subjection, submission, submissiveness,
      submittal, supineness, tact, tactfulness, thoughtfulness, urbanity,
      veneration, worship, yielding