respectability
Americannoun
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respectabilities
plural
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the state or quality of being respectable.
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respectable social standing, character, or reputation.
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a respectable person or persons.
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respectabilities, things accepted as respectable.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrespectabilitynoun
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prerespectabilitynoun
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semirespectabilitynoun
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superrespectabilitynoun
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unrespectabilitynoun
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
At a time when other sitcoms occasionally tackled social issues in “very special” episodes and “The Cosby Show” hewed to its namesake star’s dedication to respectability politics, “A Different World” regularly confronted harder topics.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
Clawing back respectability is the new imperative on the horizon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
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
“It throws an air of respectability about five-dollar dealings that are sheer gambling,” the Inquirer wrote Sept. 25, 1878.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
“Not improving the general respectability of Zaire,” I said.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
His neuroticism, although he learned to control it. left him with a lifelong terror of going beyond the "cleanly respectabilities."
From Time Magazine Archive
It is a sad state of affairs, reached by respectably villainous fathers the world over, when the son demonstrates the mathematical law of progression by becoming a villain without regard for the respectabilities.
From The Quickening by E. M. Ashe
"I see plainly," he says, "that our society is as bigoted to the respectabilities of religion and education as yours."
From Ralph Waldo Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Moreover, my uncle, should he ever discover this after-match of my oriental life, was certainly not the man to be seriously scandalised at it, directly he assured himself that "the respectabilities" had not been violated.
From French and Oriental Love in a Harem by Paul Avril
Now fifty patented, incorporated respectabilities will put the curb on, will hamper the expansion.
From Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863 by Adam G. de Gurowski, Count
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