comport
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
comports,
present (3rd person singular)
-
comported,
past participle, past
-
comporting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
comports,
present (3rd person singular)
-
comported,
past participle, past
-
comporting
present participle
noun
noun
verb
-
(tr) to conduct or bear (oneself) in a specified way
-
to agree (with); correspond (to)
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
comportsimple
-
comportssimple
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have comportedperfect
-
has comportedperfect
-
am comportingprogressive
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are comportingprogressive
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is comportingprogressive
-
have been comportingperfect progressive
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has been comportingperfect progressive
Past
-
comportedsimple
-
had comportedperfect
-
was comportingprogressive
-
were comportingprogressive
-
had been comportingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of comport1
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French comporter < Latin comportāre to transport, equivalent to com- com- + portāre to port 5
Origin of comport2
1765–75; alteration of French compotier a dish for compote; see -ier 2
Explanation
Comport means to behave, and particularly to behave well. If you attend a school for social etiquette, you will learn how to comport yourself properly at the dinner table. You’ll usually find comport in one of two phrases: with yourself, himself, etc., as in, "With all that burping, you did not comport yourself well at Aunt Edna’s party," or with the word with. When you see the second version, comport means something more like agree. For example, you could say, "I don’t think your ripped jeans and beat up t-shirt really comport with the guidelines for Casual Friday."
Vocabulary lists containing comport
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The Things They Carried
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"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" by Patrick Henry (1775)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
McConnell, an appointee of Democratic president Barack Obama, said it was not his role to rule on "the wisdom of the government's policy choices" but to determine whether they "comport with the law."
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Reed next tried to convince federal courts that construing the statute that way did not comport with the fundamental fairness required by the 14th Amendment’s due process clause.
From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2026
Food makers have long tweaked their recipes and rolled out new products to comport with changing government regulations and consumer preferences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
"They were very much Team Mick and I think they were coming at it from the generational side, where it was like, 'That is not the way that you comport yourself, and it's disrespectful.'"
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2026
A moral freeze: I couldn’t decide, I couldn’t act, I couldn’t comport myself with even a pretense of modest human dignity.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
First, they found a 4% decline in employment of undocumented workers, which comports with employer reports that raids have prompted immigrant workers to stop showing up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
In the same case, the federal government has argued that the agreement comports with federal law, which it said “generally restricts the IRS from disclosing any tax return information” but provides for certain exceptions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2025
The way Harris comports herself is not just relatable, it's human.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2024
The EPA proposal comports with the Supreme Court’s decision and “has all the fundamental elements of a great rule,” said Jay Duffy, litigation director at the Clean Air Task Force.
From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2023
She nods; what I’ve just said, for whatever reason, comports with what she knows of her son.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
None has been compelled to testify in civil or criminal court — or even explain in public what happened, why the officers opened fire, and how their decisions comported, or did not, with department procedures.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2023
A hard-bitten New York intellectual of the old stripe, Gilman spoke with a smoker’s rasp, enjoyed a drink and comported himself like a rakish pirate in a denim jacket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
Professor Davison discovered, however, that the equation was a misprint and that what Orwell originally wrote was “2 + 2 = 5,” which comported with Big Brother’s Newspeak.
From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
Participants relive the drama, compare notes on which teammates comported themselves with particular valor and lament perceived cheap shots from their foe.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 27, 2022
How Barack and I comported ourselves in the face of instability mattered.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Scott and Goba did a fine job of pushing back at the most ridiculous lies, generally comporting themselves and the profession well.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2024
“And it is the biggest dilemma for me in terms of comporting my religious and cultural views with my political responsibility.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2022
So it is like, “Well, are you a court? Because this sounds a lot like a court but you’re not exactly comporting yourself as a court.”
From The Verge ● May 11, 2021
Even if she doesn’t agree with them, she’s comporting with them.
From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2021
Percy, however, had a very different way of comporting himself.
From A Dog with a Bad Name by Talbot Baines Reed
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
