respectability
Americannoun
plural
respectabilities-
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
- nonrespectability noun
- prerespectability noun
- semirespectability noun
- superrespectability noun
- unrespectability noun
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.
There was something else that academics offered Epstein beyond a veneer of respectability: access.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Seamer Matt Henry took 4-43 as the West Indies top order once again failed to fire, with only Roston Chase's 38 in the middle order giving the total any sense of respectability at Seddon Park.
From Barron's • Nov. 22, 2025
Williamson chose this route for “Unconventional” because he wanted to make an unabashedly queer relationship show “written without respectability politics in mind, so I’d need to find a different pathway.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025
It often arrives dressed in intellectual respectability framed as concern, skepticism or “just asking questions.”
From Salon • Oct. 10, 2025
That air of respectability was carefully concocted by her mother.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
