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decorous

US/ˈdɛkəɹəs/
adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,679 of 15,258neutral

Decorous means correct and dignified in behaviour. A decorous silence, decorous applause.

It describes fitting the occasion rather than being good, which is a different thing. A decorous funeral is one where nobody does anything anybody will remember.

Fyodor Bronnikov · Public domain

Definitions of decorous

  1. 1adjectivedecorousCorrect and dignified in behaviour.C2

    “The party was decorous until about eleven.”

decorous is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin decorus, seemly, from decor, grace; the same root gives decorum and decorate.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *deḱ-

  2. English, today

    decorous

From the following:

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

decorous in the wild

  • The key to being 'a real mensh' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous".

    Mensch

  • Another understanding is that taarof is a way of managing social relations with decorous manners.

    Taarof

  • The idea was revived in a different and slightly more decorous version of 1779, which is attributed to the young James Gillray.

    Sawney

  • Otani was well-regarded for his decorous behaviour in challenge matches, earning the nickname Kunshi no ken, the Gentleman's Sword.

    Otani Nobutomo

  • So, after having set her siblings in a decorous place, she surrendered herself totally to God.

    Margherita Maria Guaini

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.