Deferential means showing respect for somebody's rank or judgement. A deferential tone, deferential to the court, too deferential.
It is often faintly critical — calling reporting deferential means it failed to challenge. It is about rank rather than affection, which separates it from respectful. Note defer, meaning to yield, which is a different word from defer meaning to postpone.
1adjectivedeferentialShowing respect for somebody's rank or judgement.
“The waiters were deferential to the famous guest, bowing and calling him sir.”
deferential is a quality of manner.
From deference, from Latin deferre, to carry away or submit — de plus ferre, to carry.
From deference (or its Latin - type dēferentia) al; compare essence, essential; prudence, prudential, etc. coined by Q79025.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA