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.
“The connections that survive do so in compelling ways. … The depiction of the women in Jeanette and Carmen’s family is confident and layered, capturing their decencies and failings.”
From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2021
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
We are ruled by "prohibitive decencies", our passions are sublimated, we have had to learn "to press our roaring blood into quieter channels".
From The Guardian • May 24, 2013
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.
