decency

CEFRB2

/ˈdiːsənsi/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
Behavior that is considered polite, honest, and acceptable.
02
noun
Extra detail
That which is proper or becoming.

Examples

He didn't have the decency to admit that he was wrong.
She had the decency to apologize.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 3
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

The quality of being decent; propriety.

More examples

In context

That is beneath ordinary decency.
Immodest words admit of no defence, / For want of decency is want of sense.
Those thousand decencies, that daily flow / From all her words and actions.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She showed basic blank by helping the lost child find his parents.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Immodest words admit of no defence, / For want of decency is want of sense.
1684, Wentworth Dillon, An Essay on Translated Verse
Indeed it is for the moſt part in our ſkill in manners, and in the obſervances of time and place, and of decency in general, which is only to be learned in thoſe ſchools to which Horace recommends us, that what is called Taſte by way of diſtinction, conſiſts; and which is in reality no other than a more refined judgment.
1757 (date written), [Edmund Burke], “Introduction. On Taste.”, in A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, 2nd edition, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1759, →OCLC, part, page 30
[To Joseph McCarthy:] Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
1954 June, Joseph N. Welch, Army–McCarthy hearings
Now, what is interesting about that poem is nothing. But, what is relevant about it is that his muse is his wife, Marcela, who is 42 years younger than him. He is 75, she is 33. And I’ll say this, at least when 70-something American politicians get creepily handsy with 30-something women, they have the decency to do so with their own daughters. Have some class, Brazil! Have some class!
2016, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Journalism”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 20, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO
Those thousand decencies, that daily flow / From all her words and actions.
1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

Keep decency

Looking a word up is the easy part. LexUp remembers which words you have met and brings them back at the point you were about to forget them.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Origin

noun

From Latin decentia, from decens. Equivalent to decent + -cy. Compare French décence.

Deep Dive

noun

More examples

Related

Quick test

She showed basic blank— by helping the lost child find his parents.

Nearby

Origin

noun

She showed basic blank by helping the lost child find his parents.