respectability

American

[ri-spek-tuh-bil-i-tee] / rɪˌspɛk təˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

the state or quality of being respectable.
respectable social standing, character, or reputation.
a respectable person or persons.
respectabilities, things accepted as respectable.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

respectabilities

plural

Etymology

Origin of respectability

First recorded in 1775–85; respectable + -ity

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.

See Examples For:

respectability respectabilities

Theater artists who have come of age in this period have been released from the burden of having to conform to notions of regional theater respectability.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

"The picture they tried to present to the outside world was one of respectability," he said.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

One of Christianity’s deepest convictions is that social standing, respectability and material recognition are not the measures of a life.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

There was something else that academics offered Epstein beyond a veneer of respectability: access.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

We could even charge a premium because we added that layer of respectability to the transaction.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

His neuroticism, although he learned to control it. left him with a lifelong terror of going beyond the "cleanly respectabilities."

From Time Magazine Archive

Buckingham habitually violated the traditional and established decorums of the press; he was familiar, chatty, saucy, anecdotical, and sadly wanting in respect for the respectabilities of the most respectable town in the universe.

From Famous Americans of Recent Times by Parton, James

To secure such respectabilities in death he passed a most respectable life, a more respectable-looking individual never was seen.

From Isopel Berners The History of certain doings in a Staffordshire Dingle, July, 1825 by Seccombe, Thomas

Its respectabilities, its orthodoxies, he could no longer abide.

From The Life of John Ruskin by Collingwood, W. G. (William Gershom)

Not Churches, nor creeds, nor rituals, nor respectabilities.

From Humanity in the City by Chapin, E. H. (Edwin Hubbell)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023