Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect.
- n. Inherent nobility and worth: the dignity of honest labor.
- n. Poise and self-respect.
- n. Stateliness and formality in manner and appearance.
- n. The respect and honor associated with an important position.
- n. A high office or rank.
- n. The ceremonial symbols and observances attached to high office.
- n. Archaic A dignitary.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The state of being worthy; nobleness or elevation of mind; worthiness: as, dignity of sentiments.
- n. Elevation; honorable place or elevated rank; degree of excellence, either in estimation or in the order of nature: as, man is superior in dignity to brutes.
- n. Elevation and repose of aspect or of deportment; nobility of mien: as, a man of native dignity; “dignity of attitude,”
- n. Height; importance; rank.
- n. An elevated office, civil or ecclesiastical; hereditary rank or title, or official distinction.
- n. The rank or title of a nobleman; the right to use a title of honor, originally in virtue of an estate and accompanied by an official function.
- n. One who holds high rank; a dignitary.
- n. Any honor conferred; promotion.
- n. In rhetoric, avoidance of unseemly or trivial tropes and figures.
- n. In astrology, a situation in which a planet has an influence more powerful than usual.
- n. A self-evident truth; an axiom. This word is one of the fantastical learned fabrications with which some old writers ornament their pages. It is a Latin imitation of the Greek
ἀξιωμα , which means both axiom and dignity in the sense of worth. - n. Majesty, stateliness, gravity.
Wiktionary
- n. A quality or state worthy of esteem and respect.
- n. Decorum, formality, stateliness.
- n. High office, rank, or station.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The state of being worthy or honorable; elevation of mind or character; true worth; excellence.
- n. Elevation; grandeur.
- n. Elevated rank; honorable station; high office, political or ecclesiastical; degree of excellence; preferment; exaltation.
- n. Quality suited to inspire respect or reverence; loftiness and grace; impressiveness; stateliness; -- said of mien, manner, style, etc.
- n. One holding high rank; a dignitary.
- n. obsolete Fundamental principle; axiom; maxim.
WordNet 3.0
- n. high office or rank or station
- n. formality in bearing and appearance
- n. the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
Etymologies
- From Middle English dignitee, from Old French dignite, from Latin dignitas ("worthiness, merit, dignity, grandeur, authority, rank, office"), from dignus ("worthy, appropriate"), probably akin to decus ("honor, esteem") and decet ("it is fitting"). Cognate to deign. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English dignite, from Old French, from Latin dignitās, from dignus, worthy; see dek- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal.”
“I use the word dignity in a tongue-in-cheek way, because I realized I hadn't come far in the past 31 years when it comes to letting go of summer without wrapping my body around it and holding on for dear life.”
“She has brought the word dignity to new heights by her courage," Pelosi said.”
“I don't need that soul if the dignity is already gone, eh?”
“He quickly gave the order to admit them, and so keen was his curiosity, despite what he called his dignity, that he got up and went forward to meet them.”
“Kennedy also used the word "dignity" three times in his 2003 opinion throwing out the sodomy prosecution of two gay men, tantalizing liberals with the possibility that he will someday bless same-sex marriage.”
“The reason: a group of some 300 French protesters were aboard what they dubbed the "dignity train" carrying around 60 Tunisians who hold temporary residence papers granted by Italy.”
“I realized that our word dignity, which encompasses so much of what's at stake, ultimately traces back to the Greek theos: our dignity is our quality of bearing God's image.”
“So we have moderns like Pinker writing that "dignity" is a meaningless term when speaking of human life; and Singer resurrecting the notion of a lebensunwertes Leben, a "life unworthy of life.”
“Castle in Irish means country house, and all over the south and west of Ireland you may find such houses as this with doors screwed up, windows covered with planks, roofs and eaves stripped of the lead and slates which once protected them from the storms which rise up from the Atlantic, and burst in wind and rain, snow and sleet over Connemara, long ago taken away to sell by the bankrupt heirs of those who ruined themselves, mortgaged and sold every acre of ground and every stick and stone they owned to maintain what they called the dignity of their families at the Vice-Regal Court in Dublin.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dignity’.
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Words related to knowledge
Words that relate to learning, knowing, being enlightened...
revelation, eureka, awakening, idea, sapient, astute, canny, intelligent, wise, sharp, shrewd, informed and 467 more...
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AFCO - fundamental rights
as enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
servitude, register, rule of law, protocol, preamble, pluralism, orientation, placement, parental, inviolable, ombudsman, health care and 357 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...health, follow, condition, meeting, minister, beginning, chapter, information, language, remain, covered, respect and 2614 more...
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Words for July
Words to keep in mind for July. The 1st is my birthday. I'll be 30 and pretty much starting my life over from scratch. Hopefully these words will help me on my way.
love, honor, trust, respect, understanding, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, thoughtful, dignity, reliance, hope and 12 more...
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Words with that horrible 'gn' sound
pregnant, interregnum, impregnable, signal, signature, prognosis, ignorant, ignominious, magnum, diagnosis, designation, incognito and 37 more...
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Invincible space monkey
That which exist only in our minds
moral, honour, dignity, loyalty, virtue, justice, right, wrong, truth, ethics, property, value and 17 more...
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2
transition, contents, conformity, division, labour, prominent, complexity, interrelationalship, similarity, note, tentative, convey and 75 more...
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LIBE - rights
security, property, paid leave, information, petition, establishment, education, assembly, worship, work, vote, safety and 67 more...
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Nouns
an element, a component, an ingridient, an aspect, at the HELM - в р..., a tricky TRANSITI..., to have Hiccups -..., a CASH HOARD - запас, a PREDECESSOR - п..., an ancestor, to BE RELUCTANT t..., a PENCHANT for pi... and 53 more...
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Favorites
disparage, partisan, cupidity, hokum, tussle, odious, dastardly, overture, plane, chronic, peering, peer and 328 more...
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practice 2
100 words
momentous, domicile, adroit, ingenious, dexterous, genius, brevity, decorum, propriety, dignity, err, blunder and 91 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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Prosie: Obama's Inaugural Address
In keeping with my other Prosies (like this one). There were a number of phrases as well as words in this speech that I found particularly compelling.
My fellow citizens: I stand here ...we did not turn b..., when we were tested, what storms may come, icy currents, virtue, hope, alarmed, depth of winter, revolution, snow, enemy, abandoned and 257 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for dignity.
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