Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Appropriate; suitable; proper.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • ‘Of a suitable kind or character; fit; proper; becoming: as, befitting words; a befitting dress or manner.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Suitable; proper; becoming; fitting.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of befit.
  • adjective appropriate, becoming

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective appropriate to

Etymologies

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Examples

  • He also wore an expression befitting a totally innocent man and revealed just the proper degree of shock, his eyes opening wider, when Van Sant asked him, “Did you kill your wife?”

    Every Breath You Take Ann Rule 2000

  • The Gossip Girl a title befitting the appearance of the new rising star Lady Gaga, with a luster performance that stole the show at SNL, fans are looking forward to the episode with our Princes Diva.

    Lady GaGa to appear in Gossip Girl 2009

  • I'm surprised Hutchinson didn't write under the pseudonym, TRUSTUS, a label befitting a man who held a plurality of key offices.

    Hullabaloo 2007

  • I'm surprised Hutchinson didn't write under the pseudonym, TRUSTUS, a label befitting a man who held a plurality of key offices.

    Archive 2007-02-01 2007

  • American Classic, a title befitting the artist himself, finds Willie Nelson returning to the Great American Songbook in a sequel to his best-selling crossover album

    All articles at Blogcritics 2009

  • “I need a name befitting my status, and I can’t think of one that does the job half as well as Romulus.”

    Antony and Cleopatra Colleen McCullough 2007

  • “I need a name befitting my status, and I can’t think of one that does the job half as well as Romulus.”

    Antony and Cleopatra Colleen McCullough 2007

  • "A certain befitting gravity should grace the occasion," Chris agreed, placing his hand on Planchette.

    Jack London's Short Story: Planchette 2010

  • Jets wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes recently christened themselves the " Flight Boys, " a nickname befitting teammates who have aspired to reach the height of their profession this season, if not the height of hubris.

    ' Scott Cacciola 2010

  • It's a media-centric term befitting the central role of right-wing blogs as media critics: Robert Fisk was the first big-time reporter whose reputation was destroyed by the meticulous fact-checking of right-wing bloggers.

    About that "scalping"... and other blogospheric collective activities. Ann Althouse 2007

Comments

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  • Previously almost invariably transitive; since 1960 however the construction 'befitting of' has greatly increased in popularity. Although Google Books still has it as only minute in numbers by 2000, today's Web shows it coming on very strong.

    This is the first comment I have made here using information from the Ngram Viewer.

    January 25, 2011