decorous
Syllables: dec·or·ousUS/ˈdɛkəɹəs/
decorous adjective: marked by behaviour, manners, etc., regarded as proper, tasteful, and in accordance with accepted standards; becoming, seemly.
Adjective
decorous (comparative more decorous, superlative most decorous)
- Marked by behaviour, manners, etc., regarded as proper, tasteful, and in accordance with accepted standards; becoming, seemly.
- The narrovv path of truth and virtue inclines neither to the right nor left—it is a ſtraightforvvard buſineſs, and they vvho are earneſtly purſuing their road, may bound over many decorous prejudices, vvithout leaving modeſty behind.1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Animadversions on Some of the Writers who have Rendered Women Objects of Pity, Bordering on Contempt”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With...
- [S]ome grumbling voice, / Which now and then will make a slight inroad / Upon decorous silence, […]1822 October 15, Quevedo Redivivus [pseudonym; Lord Byron], “The Vision of Judgment”, in The Liberal. Verse and Prose from the South, 2nd edition, volume I, number I, London: […] John Hunt, […]...
- Synonyms:
- becomed, menseful, chaste, continent, correct, upstanding, delicate, decent, desertful, deserving
- Antonyms:
- dedecorous, indecorous, undecorous
- Appropriate, suitable.
- [B]oth the truth vvhich the Prophecy aims at is faithfully conveyed, and that decorous embelliſhment in the external Cortex of the Prophecy punctually obſerved.1664, H[enry] More, chapter IV, in Synopsis Prophetica; or, The Second Part of the Modest Enquiry into the Mystery of Iniquity: […], London: […] James Flesher, for William Morden […], →OCLC, book I...
- And it is no vvonder this falling Star or Comet ſhould be looked upon as ſo miſchievous to Rivers and VVaters, vvhen Natural Hiſtory ſpeaks of falling Comets that have drunk up vvhole Rivers; ſo decorous is the repreſentation.1680, Henry More, chapter VIII, in Apocalypsis Apocalypseos; or The Revelation of St John the Divine Unveiled. […], London: […] J. M. for J[ohn] Martyn, and W. Kettilby, […], →OCLC, paragraph 10...
- Synonyms:
- allowable, appropriate, apropos, apposite, apt, comely, commensurate, correct, expedient, felicitous
- Antonyms:
- bad, discommensurate, improper, inappropriate, malapropos, inapt, incommensurate, inept, inopportune, out of line
decorous meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Arabic
decorous in Hindi
- marked by behaviour, manners, etc., regarded as proper, tasteful, and in accordance with accepted standards
- शालीन śālīn, मर्यादित maryādit, शोभनीय śobhnīya
decorous in Tamil
- நாகரிகமான, பண்பான
decorous in Malayalam
- decent, proper, seemly
- യുക്തമായ, ഉചിതമായ, തക്ക, സഭ്യം, ഉചിതം, ശരിയായ
decorous in Arabic
- marked by behaviour, manners, etc., regarded as proper, tasteful, and in accordance with accepted standards
- وَجِيه wajīh
More languagesFewer languages
- decorous in Vietnamese
- đoan trang
Examples of decorous in a sentence
- There came a day when the round of decorous pleasures and solemn gaieties in which Mr.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which Two Lights are Put Out”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans...
- On these beautiful moonlight nights, Rome appears to keep awake and stirring, though in a quiet and decorous way.1858 April 25 (date written), Nathaniel Hawthorne, “April 25th [1858]”, in Passages from the French and Italian Note-books of Nathaniel...
- To this Defensio Wordsworth afterward added a supplement, and the two form a treatise of permanent value for philosophic statement and decorous English.1876, James Russell Lowell, “Wordsworth”, in Among My Books. Second Series., Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor...
- Certainly not those who expect from it only decorous sentiments and normal emotions.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XLIII, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC, page...
Synonyms of decorous
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
- dedecorous
- indecorous
- undecorous
- bad
- discommensurate
- improper
- inappropriate
- malapropos
- inapt
- incommensurate
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of decorous
| comparative | more decorous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most decorous |
Origin of decorous
From the following: * Latin decōrus (“becoming, fitting, proper, suitable”) + English -ous (suffix adjectives denoting presence of a quality in any degree, typically an abundance). Decōrus is derived from decor (“elegrance, grace; charm beauty”) + -us (suffix forming adjectives); and decor is from decēre, the present active infinitive of decet (“to adorn; to be decent; to be proper or suitable”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to perceive; to take”). * Possibly also influenced by Late Latin decorōsus (“beautiful; elegant”), from decoris + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of’ forming adjectives from nouns). Decoris is the genitive singular of decus (“beauty, grace, ornament, splendour; distinction, glory, honour”), from Proto-Indo-European *déḱos (“that which is proper”), from *deḱ- (see above).
Words formed from decorous
Words that rhyme with decorous
- chorus
- torus
- thesaurus
- chlorous
- dawn chorus
- hypertorus
- porous
- Taurus
- -saurus
- Eye of Horus
- Horus
- keratotorus
7 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about decorous
- What does decorous mean?
- Decorous means marked by behaviour, manners, etc., regarded as proper, tasteful, and in accordance with accepted standards; becoming, seemly.
- What is decorous in Hindi?
- Decorous in Hindi is शालीन (śālīn), मर्यादित (maryādit), शोभनीय (śobhnīya). See Decorous meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use decorous in a sentence?
- There came a day when the round of decorous pleasures and solemn gaieties in which Mr.
- What part of speech is decorous?
- Decorous is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce decorous?
- Decorous is pronounced /ˈdɛkəɹəs/ (US).
Words near decorous in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decorous (page history and authors); decorous (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decorous (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-decorous.wav.
Cite this entry: “decorous.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decorous. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.