Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
respectability. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
respectability, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
respectability in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
respectability you have here. The definition of the word
respectability will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
respectability, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From respect + -ability.
Pronunciation
Noun
respectability (usually uncountable, plural respectabilities)
- The quality of being respectable.
1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate , New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, , →OCLC: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 all the soaps ever advertised could never wash off.
2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:But once again Hodgson's men found a way to get the result they required and there is a real air of respectability about their campaign even though they had to survive a first-half siege from a Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.
- The class of respectable people.
Derived terms
Translations
quality of being respectable