dignity
/ˈdɪɡnɪti/
dignity noun: the state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
Noun
dignity (countable and uncountable, plural dignities)
- The state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
- He uttered this ... with great majesty, or, as he called it, dignity.1751 December (indicated as 1752), Henry Fielding, chapter VIII, in Amelia. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for A[ndrew] Millar […], →OCLC
- Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being.1981, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, art. 5
- Decorum, formality, stateliness.
- The reception room was sacred to the dead wife. Her shiny portrait hung upon the wall - similar, doubtless, in all respects to the one which would be pasted on her tombstone. A little piece of black drapery had been tacked above the frame to lend a dignity to woe. But two of the tacks had fallen...1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7, third paragraph
- Official DIGNITY tends to increase in inverse ratio to the importance of the country in which the office is held.1934, Aldous Huxley, “Puerto Barrios”, in Beyond the Mexique Bay
- High office, rank, or station.
- Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue:
I tel thee villaine, thoſe that lead my horſe
Haue to their names tytles of dignitie,
And dar’ſt thou bluntly cal me Baiazeth?c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC... - And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Esther 6:3
- Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue:
- One holding high rank; a dignitary.
- These filthy dreamers […] speak evil of dignities.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jude 1:8
- Fundamental principle; axiom; maxim.
- Sciences concluding from dignities, and principles known by themselves.1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC
- Respect.
- That in such an undertaking, if put on its right footing, and treated with dignity by the State, you would have the cheerful assistance of the first scientific teachers who have turned their philosophy to such practical uses, I have no doubt.a. 1873, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, “Prefatory Memoir”, in Speeches of Edward, Lord Lytton Now First Collected. With Some of His Political Writings Hitherto Unpublished, volume 13, published 1874, page xl
- In my twenty years of ministry I have found that the minister was treated with dignity when he was dignified, that he was accorded authority and leadership when he was worthy of it.1916 March 9, Howard T. Cree, The Christian Century, page 7
dignity meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
dignity in Hindi
- quality or state
- मर्यादा maryādā, गरिमा garimā, इज़्ज़त izzat
dignity in Tamil
- quality or state
- கண்ணியம் kaṇṇiyam
dignity in Marathi
- quality or state
- मोठेपण moṭhepaṇ
dignity in Urdu
- quality or state
- وَقار vaqār, عِزَّت 'izzat
More languagesFewer languages
- dignity in Bengali
- মর্যাদা morjada
- dignity in Telugu
- గౌరవం gauravaṁ
- dignity in Malayalam
- മാനം mānaṁ, അന്തസ്സ് antassŭ
- dignity in Kannada
- ಅಗ್ಗಳೆ, ಹಿರಿಮೆ, ತಕ್ಕಾಮೆ, ಪೆಂಪು
- dignity in Punjabi
- حضرت ḥaẓrat, عزت ʻizzat
- dignity in Gujarati
- ગરિમા
- dignity in Odia
- ମର୍ଯ୍ୟାଦା marjyādā
- dignity in Sanskrit
- भग bhága
- dignity in Sinhala
- අභිමානය abhimānaya
- dignity in Assamese
- ইজ্জত izzot
- dignity in Nepali
- गरिमा
- dignity in Pashto
- وقار weqār, شان šān, حيثيت haysyat
- dignity in Tagalog
- dignidad
- dignity in Arabic
- كَرَامَة karāma, وَقَار waqār, مَنْزِلَة manzila, شَأْن šaʔn
- dignity in Malay
- maruah
- dignity in Indonesian
- martabat
- dignity in Persian
- مَنزِلَت manzelat, شَأن ša'n, وَرج varj, کَرامَت karâmat
- dignity in Thai
- ศักดิ์ศรี sàk-sǐi
- dignity in Vietnamese
- nhân phẩm
- dignity in Myanmar
- အသရေ a.sa.re, သိန် sin
Examples of dignity in a sentence
- Historically, dignity has been ascribed to an elite group, but human dignity with reference to humanity and the human family has democratized dignity. […].2021, Magdalena Smieszek, “A Brief History of Dignity”, in The Evolving Psyche of Law in Europe: The Psychology of Human Rights and Asylum...
- A little piece of black drapery had been tacked above the frame to lend a dignity to woe.1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7, third paragraph
- Patients and residents shall be treated with dignity and kindness at all times.1988, “Licensing of Long-term Care Facilities”, in Code of Massachusetts regulations, 1988, section 150.015, page 3013:
- Students must always be treated with dignity2011, Kimberly Persiani, Steve Springer, The Organized Teacher's Guide to Classroom Management, page 7:
Synonyms of dignity
Forms of dignity
| plural | dignities |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | dignitie |
Origin of dignity
Inherited from Middle English dignyte, from Old French dignité, from Latin dignitās (“worthiness, merit, dignity, grandeur, authority, rank, office”), from dignus (“worthy, appropriate”), from Proto-Italic *degnos, from Proto-Indo-European *dḱ-nos, from *deḱ- (“to take”). See also decus (“honor, esteem”) and decet (“it is fitting”). Cognate to deign. Doublet of dainty. In this sense, displaced native Old English weorþsċipe, which became Modern English worship. It also displaced native Old English hād (“honor, dignity”).
Words formed from dignity
Phrases with dignity
Questions about dignity
- What does dignity mean?
- Dignity means the state of being dignified or worthy of esteem: elevation of mind or character.
- What is dignity in Hindi?
- Dignity in Hindi is मर्यादा (maryādā), गरिमा (garimā), इज़्ज़त (izzat). See Dignity meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use dignity in a sentence?
- Historically, dignity has been ascribed to an elite group, but human dignity with reference to humanity and the human family has democratized dignity. […].
- What part of speech is dignity?
- Dignity is a noun.
- How do you pronounce dignity?
- Dignity is pronounced /ˈdɪɡnɪti/.
- What is the plural of dignity?
- The plural of dignity is dignities.
Words near dignity in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dignity (page history and authors); അന്തസ്സ് (Malayalam) (page history and authors); dignity (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); حضرت (Punjabi) (page history and authors); dignity (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); भग (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); ইজ্জত (Assamese) (page history and authors); dignity (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-dignity.ogg.
Cite this entry: “dignity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dignity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.