Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety.
- noun The conventions or requirements of polite behavior.
- noun The appropriateness of an element of an artistic or literary work, such as style or tone, to its particular circumstance or to the composition as a whole.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Propriety of speech, behavior, or dress; formal politeness; orderliness; seemliness; decency.
- noun In general, fitness, suitableness, or propriety of anything, with respect to occasion, purpose, or use.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Propriety of manner or conduct; grace arising from suitableness of speech and behavior to one's own character, or to the place and occasion; decency of conduct; seemliness; that which is seemly or suitable.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable Appropriate
social behavior ;propriety - noun countable A
convention of social behavior
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun propriety in manners and conduct
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Is not the cant sometimes on the side of those who are so anxious for what they call decorum?
Broken Bread from an Evangelist's Wallet Thomas Champness 1868
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(world, from an attention to what it calls decorum; and the preferable nature of truth and sincerity) Tj
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Though it is somewhat difficult to retain decorum about this issue, I must tell you that if anyone had walked into our Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and told us that someday, in this great nation we were founding, citizens would be put in jail for possessing this great herb, we would have laughed them out of the room.
Harvey Wasserman: George Washington Orders All Californians to Legalize Pot Harvey Wasserman 2010
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The real 'breach of decorum' is having a Democrat reaching in my wallet every time I turn around.
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I deal with thepanese almost every week and Obama just embarrassed us yet again in front of a country where such lack of decorum is taken very seriously.
President Obama's Controversial Greeting with the Emperor of Japan 2009
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Was it Mondale who made finger pointing by politicians unclassy, bad manners or lacking in decorum?
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When one loses an election, the proper decorum is to concede and help the winning candidate.
Clinton Stumps for Obama in Nevada - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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When one loses an election, the proper decorum is to concede and help the winning candidate.
Clinton Stumps for Obama in Nevada - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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But you have to understand that Congress is a place where a certain decorum is expected.
The Rove Presidency 2007
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But you have to understand that Congress is a place where a certain decorum is expected.
The Rove Presidency 2007
quotato commented on the word decorum
In accordance with its etymology, is that
which is becoming in outward act or appearance;
as,the decorum of a public assembly. Dignity springs from an inward elevation of soul producing a corresponding effect on the manners; as, dignity of personal appearance.
January 2, 2008
mohitanand commented on the word decorum
noun: propriety in manners and conduct
"You will obey the rules of decorum for this courtroom or spend the night in a jail cell," said the judge to the prosecutor.
October 19, 2016