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DECENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Conforming to conventions of sexual behavior
Example:
speech in this circle, if not always decent, never became lewd
Classified under:
Also:
clean; unobjectionable ((of behavior or especially language) free from objectionable elements; fit for all observers)
decorous (characterized by propriety and dignity and good taste in manners and conduct)
proper (marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness)
Antonym:
indecent (offensive to good taste especially in sexual matters)
Derivation:
decency (the quality of conforming to standards of propriety and morality)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Meeting requirements
Example:
a decent wage
Synonyms:
acceptable; decent; satisfactory
Classified under:
Similar:
good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Observing conventional sexual mores in speech or behavior or dress
Example:
though one of her shoulder straps had slipped down, she was perfectly decent by current standards
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
modest (not offensive to sexual mores in conduct or appearance)
Derivation:
decency (the quality of conforming to standards of propriety and morality)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Sufficiently clothed to see visitors or appear in public
Example:
are you decent?
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
modest (not offensive to sexual mores in conduct or appearance)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 5
Meaning:
In harmony with the spirit of particular persons or occasion
Example:
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field...It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this
Synonyms:
decent; fitting
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
proper (marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous
Example:
a nice girl
Synonyms:
decent; nice
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
respectable (characterized by socially or conventionally acceptable morals)
Derivation:
decency (the quality of being polite and respectable)
decency (the quality of conforming to standards of propriety and morality)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
In the right manner; correctly; suitably
Example:
can't you carry me decent?
Synonyms:
decent; decently; properly; right
Classified under:
Context examples:
They were after the fashion of the kingdom, partly resembling the Persian, and partly the Chinese, and are a very grave and decent habit.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
But though Mrs. Ferrars DID come to see them, and always treated them with the make-believe of decent affection, they were never insulted by her real favour and preference.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Jupiter is known to bring big gifts, not little ones, so chances are good you will receive an exciting assignment and a decent fee for it, too.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
What can you want but a decent maintenance?
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I am quite sorry to see them run about as they do; and indeed it is not very decent, for they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Related by decent from a single progenitor cell.
(Clonality, NCI Thesaurus)
You are a ‘good old sport’ ‘quite a decent fellow for a German,’ a hard-drinking, night-club, knock-about-town, devil-may-care young fellow.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But Collie did not give over, as was her wont, after a decent interval of chastisement.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
She proved to be the daughter of a tradesman, rich enough to afford her the comfortable maintenance which had ever been hers, and decent enough to have always wished for concealment.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Denotes an american citizen of Mexican decent.
(Mexican American, NCI Thesaurus)
