Sentence:  "Huh?" he said. "Pardon me, my dear sir," repeated the Major, blandly, smoothly, and with an air of &ndash; well, not <WSD>condescension</WSD>, but gracious familiarity. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The act of condescending; a manner of behaving toward others in an outwardly polite way that nevertheless implies one's own superiority to the others; patronizing courtesy toward inferiors. (s)