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RESPECTABILITY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Honorableness by virtue of being respectable and having a good reputation
Synonyms:
reputability; respectability
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("respectability" is a kind of...):
honorableness; honourableness (the quality of deserving honor or respect; characterized by honor)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "respectability"):
decency (the quality of being polite and respectable)
Antonym:
unrespectability (dishonorableness by virtue of lacking respectability or a good reputation)
Derivation:
respectable (deserving of esteem and respect)
respectable (characterized by socially or conventionally acceptable morals)
Context examples:
I was the first that could plod in the public eye with a load of genial respectability, and in a moment, like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
There was a servant in that house, a man who, I understood, was usually with Steerforth, and had come into his service at the University, who was in appearance a pattern of respectability.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Consider Mr. Collins's respectability, and Charlotte's steady, prudent character.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
The particular one at which my cabman pulled up had an air of smug and demure respectability in its old-fashioned iron railings, its massive folding-door, and its shining brasswork.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
If he will adopt these regulations, in seven years he will be clear; and I hope we may be able to convince him and Elizabeth, that Kellynch Hall has a respectability in itself which cannot be affected by these reductions; and that the true dignity of Sir Walter Elliot will be very far from lessened in the eyes of sensible people, by acting like a man of principle.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
There were letters from women seeking to know him, and over one such he smiled, for enclosed was her receipt for pew-rent, sent as evidence of her good faith and as proof of her respectability.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Such and such-like were the reasonings of Sir Thomas, happy to escape the embarrassing evils of a rupture, the wonder, the reflections, the reproach that must attend it; happy to secure a marriage which would bring him such an addition of respectability and influence, and very happy to think anything of his daughter's disposition that was most favourable for the purpose.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
It was occasioned, I suppose, by the reverend nature of respectability in the abstract, but I felt particularly young in this man's presence.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Neither could anything be urged against my father, who, though with some peculiarities, has abilities Mr. Darcy himself need not disdain, and respectability which he will probably never reach.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
She had humoured, or softened, or concealed his failings, and promoted his real respectability for seventeen years; and though not the very happiest being in the world herself, had found enough in her duties, her friends, and her children, to attach her to life, and make it no matter of indifference to her when she was called on to quit them.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
