decencies
Britishplural noun
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those things that are considered necessary for a decent life
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standards of behaviour considered correct by polite society; proprieties
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.
It’s all rather consoling in an era where . . . well, we shouldn’t ever take such decencies for granted.
From Washington Post • May 23, 2019
By refusing to recognize the virtues of others, or even to observe the ordinary decencies, he succeeds only in diminishing himself.
From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 28, 2018
Ebola is a terrible disease that is taking a horrendous toll on countries already devastated by war and decencies of corruption and poverty.
From New York Times • Sep. 12, 2014
We don’t like sanctimony, nor do we like meeting people who think they are too good to observe the proprieties of common decencies.
From Time • Feb. 2, 2012
Once a human being is dead there are people enough to provide the last decencies; perhaps it is so because only then can there be no question of further or recurring assistance being sought.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
