Respectable means decent enough to be accepted by others. A respectable family, respectable clothes, perfectly respectable.
It is about outward standing rather than inner virtue, which is why it can be faintly damning: a respectable career, respectable enough. Applied to a number it means reasonably good without being impressive — a respectable score, a respectable turnout. Note respectability, which carries a whole Victorian argument inside it; and that respectable and respectful are different words, one about status and one about manners.
1adjectiverespectableDecent enough to be accepted by others.
“He wore a suit and tie to look respectable for the interview.”
2adjectivereasonablyReasonably good without being impressive.
“She got a respectable mark in the exam, though not the top grade.”
respectable is a quality of decency.
Latin
respectus
Old French
respect
Middle English
respect
English
respect
English, today
respectable
Built from
From respect + -able. respect comes from Middle English respect, from Old French respect, from Latin respectus. From respect. From Middle English respect, from Old French respect, also respit (“respect, regard, consideration”), from Latin respectus (“a looking at, regard, respect”), perfect passive participle of respiciō (“look at, look back upon, respect”), from re- (“back”) + speciō (“to see”), equivalent to re + spect. a doublet of respite.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA