Link Centre Dictionary

decent

de·cent

UK/ˈdiː.sənt/ US/ˈdi.sənt/ common informal
adjective (6) adverb (1)

adjective

1.

socially or conventionally correct; refined or virtuous

  • “from a decent family”
  • “a nice girl”
Synonyms
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2.

according with custom or propriety

  • “her becoming modesty”
  • “comely behavior”
  • “it is not comme il faut for a gentleman to be constantly asking for money”
  • “a decent burial”
  • “seemly behavior”
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3.

conforming to conventions of sexual behavior

  • “speech in this circle, if not always decent, never became lewd” George Santayana
Antonyms
4.

enough to meet a purpose

  • “an adequate income”
  • “the food was adequate”
  • “a decent wage”
  • “enough food”
  • “food enough”
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5.

decently clothed

  • “are you decent?”
Similar
6.

observing conventional sexual mores in speech or behavior or dress

  • “a modest neckline in her dress”
  • “though one of her shoulder straps had slipped down, she was perfectly decent by current standards”
Similar

adverb

1.

in the right manner

  • “please do your job properly!”
  • “can”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French décent, or its source, Latin decēns, present participle of decet (“it is fitting or suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to take, accept, to receive, greet, be suitable”) (compare Ancient Greek δοκέω (dokéō, “to appear, seem, think”), δέχομαι (dékhomai, “to accept”); Sanskrit दशस्यति (daśasyáti, “shows honor, is gracious”), दाशति (dāśati, “makes offerings, bestows”)). Meaning ‘kind, pleasant’ is from 1902.

Phrases

  • do the decent thing
  • halfway decent
  • jolly D

Related words

Word family

See also

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.