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.
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
And who is responsible for not enforcing those decencies?
From Washington Post • Jan. 24, 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 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
They could see the pro- ' cessional clerics busy about the decencies of death, and the twinkling knights standing motionless, and the people’s heads, like baskets of coconuts, round the outside of the square.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
