respectability

[ ri-spek-tuh-bil-i-tee ]

/ rɪˌspɛk təˈbɪl ɪ ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR respectability ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural re·spect·a·bil·i·ties for 3.

the state or quality of being respectable.

respectable social standing, character, or reputation.

a respectable person or persons.

respectabilities, things accepted as respectable.

Nearby words

resourceful, resources, resp., respawn, respect, respectability, respectability politics, respectable, respectant, respecter, respectful

Origin of respectability

First recorded in 1775–85; respectable + -ity

Related forms

non·re·spect·a·bil·i·ty, noun, plural non·re·spect·a·bil·i·ties.pre·re·spect·a·bil·i·ty, nounsem·i·re·spect·a·bil·i·ty, nounsu·per·re·spect·a·bil·i·ty, noun

un·re·spect·a·bil·i·ty, noun

Examples from the Web for respectability

Respectability awaits even iconoclasts if they stick around long enough.
Prince Returns From the Wilderness and, Thankfully, Is as Restless as Ever|Keith Phipps|October 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Somehow, a bold and eccentric encampment gave heart to progressives at all levels of respectability.
Progressive-palooza: On Obama, Occupy, and Moral Monday|Jedediah Purdy|July 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Or, to put this another way, the person who puts her hope in respectability is like the foolish man who built his house on sand.
Bill O’Reilly to Blacks: Stop Listening to ‘Gangsta’ Music!|Jamelle Bouie|February 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Queen Victoria was the mother of the new era of respectability, but her father Edward, Duke of Kent, had a mistress for 25 years.
Oral History: The Sex Lives of the Kings and Queens of England|Tom Sykes|July 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST

She was in fact a satirist of society, and of its notions of respectability.
Jane Austen’s Tough Love|Rachel M. Brownstein|June 23, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Some of these victims will compare in respectability of conduct with any whom I now have the honor to address.
Charles Sumner; His Complete Works, Volume X (of 20)|Charles Sumner
You surely would not have had a young lady of respectability appear in public, in this way, Mr. Legge.
Satanstoe|James Fenimore Cooper
I felt at last that I might lay some claim to respectability.
Richard Carvel, Complete|Winston Churchill
Masters were seen driving their own drays; and ladies of respectability and ample means were obliged to cook the family dinner.
A Source Book Of Australian History|Compiled by Gwendolen H. Swinburne
I suppose English respectability would simply make them smile—if, indeed, they believed in it.
My War Experiences in Two Continents|Sarah Macnaughtan