respectability
/ɹɪˌspɛktəˈbɪlɪti/
respectability noun: the quality of being respectable.
Noun
respectability (usually uncountable, plural respectabilities)
- The quality of being respectable.
- Such a scandal as the prosecution of a brother for forgery—with a verdict of guilty—is a most truly horrible, deplorable, fatal thing. It takes the respectability out of a family perhaps at a critical moment, when the family is just assuming the robes of respectability: […] it is a black spot which...1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC
- Though he knew it not, the subtle spirit of vagabondage had taken possession of his soul, and even of his hat, which seemed suddenly to have lost its original respectability, and acquired an air of dissoluteness.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 76
- The class of respectable people.
respectability meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
respectability in Tamil
- ஆன்ற மதிப்புடைமை, சமுதாய மதிப்பிற்கு உரியராய் உள்ளவர்கள், சமுதாய மதிப்பிற்கு உரியராய் உள்ளவர்
respectability in Urdu
- عزت, وجاہت
respectability in Bengali
- respectability, pride
- গৌরব gōurob
respectability in Telugu
- respectability, chieftainship
- పెద్దతనము peddatanamu
- respectability, esteem, regard
- బెట్టు beṭṭu
More languagesFewer languages
- respectability in Kannada
- ಮಾತುಬರಿ
- respectability in Sanskrit
- पक्ति
Examples of respectability in a sentence
- The village shop seemed to be a bastion of respectability but those in the know could obtain some very questionable under-the-counter material.
- The burden of judgment imposed by the politics of respectability can easily colonize black minds.
- For even the grandest of grandes horizontales, respectability was a luxury that remained tantalisingly out of reach.
Forms of respectability
| plural | respectabilities |
|---|
Origin of respectability
From respect + -ability.
Words formed from respectability
Questions about respectability
- What does respectability mean?
- Respectability means the quality of being respectable.
- What is respectability in Tamil?
- Respectability in Tamil is ஆன்ற மதிப்புடைமை, சமுதாய மதிப்பிற்கு உரியராய் உள்ளவர்கள், சமுதாய மதிப்பிற்கு உரியராய் உள்ளவர். See Respectability meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is respectability?
- Respectability is a noun.
- How do you pronounce respectability?
- Respectability is pronounced /ɹɪˌspɛktəˈbɪlɪti/.
- What is the plural of respectability?
- The plural of respectability is respectabilities.
Words near respectability in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: respectability (page history and authors); respectability (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); respectability (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); গৌরব (Bengali) (page history and authors); పెద్దతనము (Telugu) (page history and authors); respectability (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); पक्ति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-respectability.wav.
Cite this entry: “respectability.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/respectability. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.