Broad-mindedness is the quality of being willing to respect opinions, beliefs, or ways of living that are very different from your own. A broad-minded person does not slam the door just because an idea feels new, strange, or uncomfortable. Though actually, people sometimes use the word as easy praise — or as a quiet boast — for someone who is merely polite, or who only accepts difference when it costs them nothing. The harder thing is to disagree and still treat the other person as worth hearing. It is a noun; the everyday adjective is broad-minded. The word sounds a little formal, even old-fashioned in some rooms. Friends might just say they’re open, they don’t judge, or they can live and let live. The opposite idea is narrow-mindedness: a mind that has little space for other ways.