good behavior

noun

1. satisfactory, proper, or polite conduct.

2. conduct conformable to law; orderly conduct.

   The convict's sentence was reduced for good behavior.

3. proper fulfillment of the duties of an office, especially a public office.

   The incumbent could not be discharged during good behavior.

Example Sentences

Only on rare occasions did their good behavior falter: for example, when peas were unexpectedly served at luncheon.

Read more on Literature

“It takes patience, I suppose, and a great many reminders, and we must be careful to avoid temptation, especially if the children are hungry. Treats are also useful, as a reward for good behavior.”

Read more on Literature

The proper response isn’t to nudge them toward good behavior.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Hitler’s major statement against the Jews in September 1919, about two years after the Bolshevik Revolution, makes no reference to communism but inveighs instead against the international capitalists who had laid Germany low in World War I. Later, his view that he could use Europe’s Jews as “hostages” to ensure the good behavior of Roosevelt’s America led to the full-scale implementation of the Holocaust.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

With credit for time served, good behavior and other things, she is projected to be released in 2037.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• correctness 
• decency 
• decorum 
• dignity 
• modesty 
• rectitude 
• respectability