1
as in polite
following the established traditions of refined society and good taste
we were asked to be on our most decorous behavior at the formal event
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in formal
marked by or showing careful attention to set forms and details
the oppressively decorous standards of a royal court
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of decorous
Is there any decorous way to acknowledge my failure to do so over the past few years and to express my regret?
—
Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2025
At home, the atmosphere was decorous, curious, gentle; outside, the culture of the nineteen-fifties was tougher, valorizing war and papering over a darker, more furtive kind of violence.
—Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2025
When Elon Musk rewrote Twitter's old content rules for X, the platform's never-decorous conversations deteriorated further.
—Scott Rosenberg, Axios, 8 Jan. 2025
Aside from a series of gruesome martyr scenes frescoed on the interior wall of the second ring in the late 16th century, the décor reflects late Imperial taste for decorous abstraction and costly materials.
—David Laskin, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for decorous
Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2025
At home, the atmosphere was decorous, curious, gentle; outside, the culture of the nineteen-fifties was tougher, valorizing war and papering over a darker, more furtive kind of violence.
—Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2025
When Elon Musk rewrote Twitter's old content rules for X, the platform's never-decorous conversations deteriorated further.
—Scott Rosenberg, Axios, 8 Jan. 2025
Aside from a series of gruesome martyr scenes frescoed on the interior wall of the second ring in the late 16th century, the décor reflects late Imperial taste for decorous abstraction and costly materials.
—David Laskin, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for decorous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decorous
Adjective
-
From a software engineering perspective, being polite is a waste of resources.—
Adrian Bridgwater,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
-
Just be polite and point out the issue at checkout.—
Elizabeth Fogarty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
Just last year, California Olive Ranch became the first company in North America to receive formal regenerative certification from A Greener World for over 4,600 acres on their own ranches.—
Esha Chhabra,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
-
The color selection and style make this pair a great option for both casual and formal events since they can be worn with jeans, shorts, skirts, and dresses.—
Rachel Trujillo,
People.com,
31 July 2025
Adjective
-
Women being dismissed by their healthcare providers is another culprit, says Tran, and without proper exams and X-rays, the disease goes undetected.—
Marnie Goodfriend,
Flow Space,
25 July 2025
-
The trooper found no proper registration for the vehicle.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
Adjective
-
Prior to kickoff in the game that marked the debut of the baby blue Riptide jersey, Inter Miami owners Jorge and Jose Mas officially welcomed De Paul with the same type of ceremonious presentation that was given in years past to the star foursome of Messi, Alba, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Busquets.—
Franco Panizo,
Miami Herald,
27 July 2025
-
Worthy of the most ceremonious unwrapping video, a black cardboard carton contains an impressive wooden box with the DAP nestled inside.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
20 July 2025
Adjective
-
Reeling from scandals in the 1870s, baseball’s owners consciously sought to make the sport respectable by broadening its upper- and middle-class fan-base.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
23 July 2025
-
Despite that streak ending, Swag had a more than respectable opening, debuting with 163,000 overall units on 198.77 million streams, per Billboard.—
Ethan Millman,
HollywoodReporter,
20 July 2025
Adjective
-
And, the embroidery on the pillowcases adds a nice touch.—
Shalwah Evans,
People.com,
14 July 2025
-
The units also vary in shape: the cube is nice for nightstands, while the wider grand size works well on large dressers.—
Jamie Fischer,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 July 2025
Adjective
-
One factor that now seems to ensure a satisfactory resolution for both parties is the resurrection of the NFL’s interest in taking an equity stake in ESPN, rumors of which first began circulating in early 2024.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
25 July 2025
-
The plane’s fuel was tested and found to be of satisfactory quality, and no significant bird activity is observed in the vicinity of the flight path, according to the report.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
Prosecutors argued in their filing on July 29 that Joseph was correct and that Adelman should allow the case to proceed.—
John Diedrich,
jsonline.com,
30 July 2025
-
However, your internal systems don’t have the capacity or the interoperability to pull together the data across disparate networks and applications to verify if their invoice numbers are correct.—
Kevin Akeroyd,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Decorous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decorous. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share