respectabilities

Ah! would that I could describe the good gentleman in the manner which he deserves; he has long since sunk to his place in a respectable vault, in the aisle of a very respectable church, whilst an exceedingly respectable marble slab against the neighbouring wall tells on a Sunday some eye wandering from its prayer-book that his dust lies below; to secure such respectabilities in death, he passed a most respectable life.

Lavengro 2004

Jordan, you joyfully know that you are upon the very frontier of all accustomed respectabilities.

Eothen 2003

What can we expect, then, when we have only poor gallant blundering men like Kossuth, Garibaldi, Mazzini, and righteous causes which do not triumph in their hands — men who have holes enough in their armour, God knows, easy to be hit by respectabilities sitting in their lounging chairs, and having large balances at their bankers '?

Tom Brown's Schooldays Hughes, Thomas, 1822-1896 1971

Moreover, my uncle, should he ever discover this after-match of my oriental life, was certainly not the man to be seriously scandalised at it, directly he assured himself that "the respectabilities" had not been violated.

French and Oriental Love in a Harem Mario Uchard

The Devil at which they threw their inkstands and semi-breves was the _Philistines_, which is the general term amongst German students, artists, poets, etc., for prosaic, narrow, hard, ungenial, commonplace respectabilities.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 71, September, 1863 Various

Nature, like her Lord, requires truth in the inward parts, and takes but small care of outward respectabilities that are but the whitewashed graves of inward foulness.

The Power of Womanhood, or Mothers and Sons A Book For Parents, And Those In Loco Parentis Ellice Hopkins

What can we expect, then, when we have only poor gallant, blundering men like Garibaldi and Mazzini, and righteous causes which do not triumph in their hands; men who have holes enough in their armour, God knows, easy to be hit by respectabilities sitting in their lounge-chairs, and having large balances at their bankers.

Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known Characters George Milligan

He had wrapped himself in that impenetrable mantle of cold scorn, and thus he watched with a moody air the crowd of umbrella-carrying respectabilities, who hurried on their way without

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 100, March 7, 1891 Various

The emptiness of conventional respectabilities and pieties and the futility of the spasmodic attempts at heroism are obvious enough.

By the Christmas Fire Samuel McChord Crothers

The only danger is, that, in some representative districts, the people may be swindled by plausibilities and respectabilities; for when, in political contests, any great villany is contemplated, there are always found some eminently respectable men, with a fixed capital of certain eminently conservative phrases, innocently ready to furnish the wolves of politics with abundant supplies of sheep's clothing.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 107, September, 1866 Various