ˈdēs ə nsē, -nsi noun
( -es )
Etymology: Latin decentia, from decent-, decens (present participle of decēre to be fitting) + -ia -y
1. archaic
a. : suitability or fitness to circumstances
his discourse on the scaffold was full of decency and courage — David Hume †1776
b. : orderly condition of society : conformity to law
no hundred-headed Riot here we meet, with Decency and Law beneath his feet — Robert Burns
2. : the quality or state of being decent
only doctors and nurses have the decency to wear masks — Justina Hill
: decent quality, behavior, dress, or deportment : decorum , propriety , modesty
aid to the victims was simply a matter of common decency
: conformity to standards of taste, propriety, or quality
the first story of any real decency that I ever wrote — Arnold Bennett
3. : whatever is proper or becoming : standards of propriety
the act was a gross violation of decency
— usually used in plural
the decencies of normal controversy … have been disregarded and men have been publicly criticized — Vannevar Bush
4.
a. : conformity to the standard of living that becomes a person
enabled a gentleman to afford the decency of burning wood on his own hearth — Oscar Wilde
b. decencies plural : the external conditions of decent living
did not provide her … children with the decencies justified by their inheritance — J.D.Wade
5.
a. : literary decorum or its observance
b. decencies plural : the established conventions of literary decorum often with special reference to syntactical or grammatical propriety