decency
NounUS[dee-suhn-see]/ˈdisənsi/3 syllables
Open English WordNet
Noun (2)decencies
- the quality of conforming to standards of propriety and moralityOpposite indecencyType of propriety, propernessKinds modesty, modestness
- the quality of being polite and respectableType of respectability, reputability
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demureadjective
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
De′cen·cy noun; pl. Decencies (#).
Origin: L. decentia, fr. decens: cf. F. décence. See Decent.
1. The quality or state of being decent, suitable, or becoming, in words or behavior; propriety of form in social intercourse, in actions, or in discourse; proper formality; becoming ceremony; seemliness; hence, freedom from obscenity or indecorum; modesty.
Observances of time, place, and of decency in general.— Edmund Burke
Immodest words admit of no defense, For want of decency is want of sense.— Wentworth Dillon, Lord Roscommon
2. That which is proper or becoming.
The external decencies of worship.— Francis Atterbury
Those thousand decencies, that daily flow From all her words and actions.— John Milton
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54