propriety
conformity to established standards of good or proper behavior or manners.
appropriateness to the purpose or circumstances; suitability.
rightness or justness.
the proprieties, the conventional standards of proper behavior; manners: to observe the proprieties.
Obsolete. a property.
Obsolete. a peculiarity or characteristic of something.
Origin of propriety
1synonym study For propriety
Other words for propriety
Other words from propriety
- non·pro·pri·e·ty, noun, plural non·pro·pri·e·ties.
Words that may be confused with propriety
- probity, propriety
Words Nearby propriety
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use propriety in a sentence
Then they stacked those pancakes together and connected them with propriety joints, creating a 10-ton, eight-foot-tall, D-shaped supermagnet, packed with 165 miles of superconducting tape coiled around 256 times.
A hole in the ground could be the future of fusion power | James Temple | February 23, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewHe put officers in uniforms, he stressed safety and efficiency, and he preached the twin virtues of public safety and police propriety.
No other part or the propriety of the transaction itself is even in question.
Housing Commissioners Disavow Agency Response to Conflict Revelations | Andrew Keatts | May 21, 2021 | Voice of San DiegoIn an interview this week, Egeland strongly defended the propriety of delivering aid to unwholesome parts of northern Syria.
Presidents and potential presidents have often been accused of crossing some line of propriety.
Yes, Lincoln Would Have Done ‘Between Two Ferns’ | Jeff Greenfield | March 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The Weather Underground, while we certainly crossed lines of propriety and legality, we never killed or injured anybody.
Exclusive: Bill Ayers On the Weathermen, Obama’s Crap Job & More | Marlow Stern | April 3, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut for the conservatives, and for Scalia most of all, legal propriety is absurdly quaint.
Michael Tomasky on Antonin Scalia, the Lawless Supreme Court Justice | Michael Tomasky | June 26, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTWalking up to the edge of propriety and stepping over the line are all a rite of passage to self-definition.
Hoodies, Trayvon Martin, and America’s Racial Fears | Robin Givhan | March 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThey shall plan how this may be done with due propriety, and shall advise us of their action.
I do it, persuaded of the propriety of the step, and satisfied that all will go well with him yet.
Further questions respecting her family, &c., were answered with equal directness and propriety, and with manifest truth.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyWithout having represented to your husband the propriety of first consulting his father, on whom he is dependent, I think?
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2(of 2) | Charles DickensWhatever argument can be employed to establish the propriety of engaging vocally in any religious service is here available.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John Cunningham
British Dictionary definitions for propriety
/ (prəˈpraɪətɪ) /
the quality or state of being appropriate or fitting
conformity to the prevailing standard of behaviour, speech, etc
the proprieties (plural) the standards of behaviour considered correct by polite society
Origin of propriety
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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