Wiktionary

respectable

English

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Etymology

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From respect +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

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  • (US) IPA(key): [ɹɪˈspɛk.tə.bl̩]
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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respectable (comparative more respectable, superlative most respectable)

  1. Deserving respect.
    His accomplishments, morals, loyalty, and stature make him a respectable person.
    • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
      In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. In this way all respectable burgesses, down to fifty years ago, spent their evenings.
  2. Decent; satisfactory.
    Turn up to the interview wearing something respectable.  She plays a respectable game of chess.  He got a respectable B+ on his last exam.
  3. Moderately well-to-do.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Translations

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Noun

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respectable (plural respectables)

  1. A person who is respectable.
    • 1872, Thomas Cooper, The Life of Thomas Cooper, page 221:
      They forced their way into the meetings called by the respectables; and the respectables disappeared. It was of their own respectable good pleasure that they withdrew.
    • 1978 February 11, Michael Bronski, “The Gayest Parade In Town”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 31, page 13:
      The tensions between the "respectables" and the "gay spoilers"
    • 2014, Mitchell Duneier, Philip Kasinitz, Alexandra Murphy, The Urban Ethnography Reader, page 38:
      The “respectables”, then, impute to themselves an absence of such character blemishes, or stated in more positive terms, an allegiance to American mainstream morality.

See also

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Catalan

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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respectable m or f (masculine and feminine plural respectables)

  1. respectable

Derived terms

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Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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From respect +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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respectable (plural respectables)

  1. respectable

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Galician

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Alternative forms

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Adjective

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respectable m or f (plural respectables)

  1. respectable

Derived terms

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Further reading

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