comportment
Americannoun
noun
Synonym Usage
See behavior.
Etymology
Origin of comportment
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Middle French comportement; see comport 1, -ment
Explanation
Your comportment is the way you act, especially when you behave well. You might compliment a patient little boy on his comportment as he waits in line for a turn on the swings. You can use the noun comportment to describe both the way a person behaves and also the way he carries himself — his general manner. A queen's comportment is usually regal, a bit stiff, and dignified. The comportment of a bunch of little kids at an amusement park is very different. The Middle French root is comportement, "bearing or behavior," from the Latin comportare, "to bring together or collect."
Vocabulary lists containing comportment
The Nickel Boys
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White Fang
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Nickel and Dimed
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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.
Mr. Dilenschneider’s is also a practical book, offering roadmaps for better civic comportment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Yes, ordinary Americans defeated would-be emperors in the past through political participation, nonviolent confrontation, decency of comportment — and a few self-evident truths.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2025
It’s a brilliant commentary on the all-too-familiar bodily comportment and fixed gaze of the modern digital citizen.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2025
Riley certainly has called into question whether he has the comportment required to clean up his personal Chernobyl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2024
In the prison movies that provide me with a mental guide to comportment, the new guy doesn’t go around shaking hands and asking, “Hi there, what are you in for?”
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
