decorum

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“
Though she would have walked out on the Brodnyx road at midnight without putting the slightest strain on either her courage or her decorum, the well-lighted streets of a town became to her vaguely dangerous and indecorous after dusk had fallen.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety: "In the Ireland of the 1940's ... the stolidity of a long, empty, grave face was thought to be the height of decorum and profundity” (John McGahern).
  2. noun The conventions or requirements of polite behavior: the formalities and decorums of a military funeral.
  3. noun The appropriateness of an element of an artistic or literary work, such as style or tone, to its particular circumstance or to the composition as a whole.

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Examples (50)

  • It is curious to observe how Scruton's indignation leads him to transgress his own standards of courtesy and decorum, and indeed of accurate and well-tuned prose.
  • I'd start by bringing Lisa Kudrow to 30 Rock as a fiery human resources exec charged with the unenviable task of trying to bring order, decorum, and a more formal dress code to the staff of —  Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
  • Other rules of decorum are also strictly enforced in the Guild and these are expected to be adhered to by anyone using the facility. —  Stabroek News
  • Behaviour that is acceptable, or even tolerable, in an ordinary private citizen may not be so coming from one who is supposed to be an exemplar of dignity, integrity and decorum -- in other words, a role model for Malaysians young and old, both liberal and conservative, from all backgrounds.
  • He can't hold it together in public; look how he treated Barack Obama on the Senate floor, where diplomacy and decorum are the norm. —  Pam's House Blend - Front Page
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin decōrum, from decōrus, becoming, handsome; see decorous.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French décorum = Spanish Portuguese Italian decoro, from Latin decorum, fitness, propriety, decorum, neuter of decorus, fit, proper: see decorous.
 

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/dəˈkoʊrəm/
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