Propriety

Noun

 * 1) correctness in behaviour and morals
 * 2) * 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 12
 * Elinor then ventured to doubt the propriety of her receiving such a present from a man so little, or at least so lately known to her.
 * 1) fitness; the quality of being appropriate
 * 2) * 1850, Edward Ralph May, "Speech on African American Suffrage"
 * Now, if we may, with propriety, refer to the people one question, why may we not, with equal propriety, refer another?

Adjectives for Propriety
unconscious; editorial; peculiar; established; equal; perfect; complacent; eminent; dramatic; rigid; obvious; sacred; dreamy.

Verbs for Propriety
adhere to—; admire—; befit—s; conform to—; contravene—s; fulfill—s; impose— incur—; justify—s; observe—; respect— satisfy—; suit—; undermine—; —becomes —binds; —exacts; —obliges; —prescribes —requires; —saddles.

Thesaurus
Atticism, admissibility, advantage, advantageousness, advisability, amenities, applicability, appositeness, appropriateness, aptitude, aptness, auspiciousness, becomingness, beneficialness, bienseance, breeding, ceremony, chargedness, chasteness, chastity, civilities, civility, clarity, classicalism, classicism, clearness, comeliness, conformity, convenance, convenience, convention, conventional usage, conventionalism, conventionality, correctitude, correctness, courtesy, criticality, crucialness, custom, decencies, decency, decorousness, decorum, defensibility, delicacy, desirability, dignity, directness, discrimination, distinction, drumhead justice, dueness, ease, elegance, elegancy, equitableness, equity, etiquette, evenhandedness, expedience, expediency, favorableness, feasibility, felicitousness, felicity, finish, fitness, fittedness, fittingness, flow, flowing periods, fluency, form, formality, fruitfulness, genteelness, gentility, give-and-take, good form, good taste, goodness, grace, gracefulness, gracility, happiness, health, justice, justifiability, justifiableness, justification, justness, lawfulness, legality, limpidity, loadedness, lucidity, mannerliness, measure for measure, meetness, modesty, mores, naturalism, naturalness, naturism, neatness, nemesis, niceness, normalcy, normality, normalness, normativeness, opportuneness, order, orderliness, pellucidity, percentage, perspicuity, plainness, poetic justice, polish, politeness, politesse, politicness, pregnancy, profit, profitability, properness, propitiousness, proprieties, protocol, prudence, pudency, pudicity, punctilio, purity, qualification, realism, refinement, regularity, relevance, respectability, restraint, retributive justice, right, righteousness, rightfulness, rightness, ripeness, ritual, rude justice, scales of justice, seasonableness, sedateness, seemliness, shame, simplicity, smoothness, social convention, social usage, straightforwardness, suitability, suitableness, summary justice, taste, tastefulness, terseness, the proprieties, timeliness, tradition, unaffectedness, urbanity, usefulness, warrantability, warrantedness, what is right, wholesomeness, wisdom, worthwhileness

Etymology
Coined between 1425 and 1475 from late propriete:, from  proprieté:, from  proprietas:

Translations

 * Catalan: propietat
 * Danish: sømmelighed
 * French: correction
 * Macedonian:, умесност


 * Romanian:
 * Russian:
 * Spanish:


 * Catalan: propietat
 * Danish: rigtighed, ordentlighed
 * French: décence
 * Macedonian:, умесност


 * Russian: уместность, правильность
 * Spanish:


 * German: Schicklichkeit (1)

Related terms

 * proper