decorum

View more Literature & Language videos

noun

1. Conformity to recognized standards, as of conduct or appearance: comeliness, correctness, decency, decentness, decorousness, properness, propriety, respectability, respectableness, seemliness. See usual/unusual.
2. Socially correct behavior: etiquette, good form, manner (used in plural), mores, propriety (also used in plural), p's and q's. See usual/unusual.

n

Definition: appropriate behavior, good manners
Antonyms: bad behavior, bad manners, impoliteness, indecency, rudeness

decorum [di‐kor‐ŭm], a standard of appropriateness by which certain styles, characters, forms, and actions in literary works are deemed suitable to one another within a hierarchical model of culture bound by class distinctions. Derived from Horace's Ars Poetica (c.20 BCE) and other works of classical criticism, decorum was a major principle of late Renaissance taste and of neoclassicism. It ranked and fixed the various literary genres in ‘high’, ‘middle’, and ‘low’ stations, and expected the style, characters, and actions in each to conform to its assigned level: thus a tragedy or epic should be written in a high or ‘grand’ style about high‐ranking characters performing grand deeds, whereas a comedy should treat humble characters and events in a ‘low’ or colloquial style. The mixture of high and low levels, as in Shakespeare, was seen as indecorous, although it could be exploited for humorous effect in burlesques and mock‐heroic works. The strict application of these principles of decorum was overturned by the advent of Romanticism; although in a general sense writers always suit style to subject‐matter according to their purposes. See also convention, diction, style.

IN BRIEF: Accepted standards of conduct; proper behavior.

When visiting the queen, one must act with decorum and conform to a strict code of socially correct behavior.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

For a list of words related to decorum, see:

• Attitudes and Behavior - decorum: propriety and good taste; polite behavior

---

See words rhyming with "decorum."

Dansk (Danish)
n. - sømmelighed, ordentlig opførsel, konvention, etikette

Nederlands (Dutch)
decorum (fatsoen)

Français (French)
n. - bienséance, convenances, étiquette

Deutsch (German)
n. - Anstand

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ευπρέπεια, κοσμιότητα

Italiano (Italian)
decenza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - decoro (m), decência (f)

Русский (Russian)
этикет

Español (Spanish)
n. - decoro, corrección, modales

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - anständighet, etikett, god ton

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
端正, 礼仪, 礼貌合宜

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 端正, 禮儀, 禮貌合宜

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 예절 바름, 단정

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 礼儀正しいこと, 上品さ, 礼儀

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الباقه, آداب التصرف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮צניעות, הגינות‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.