decentadj.

1549 H. Latimer 1st Serm. before Kynges Grace sig. Ciii Abbeis were ordeyned for the comforte of the pore..it was not decent that the kynges horsse shuld be kept in them.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. 228 Tell thine errand in such termes as are decent betwixt enemies.

a1677 I. Barrow Wks. (1683) II. 340 Decent it was that as man did approve, so man also should condemn sin in the flesh.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1661 (1955) III. 307 The funerall of the Bish: of Hereford..was a decent solemnity.

1695 J. Dryden in tr. C. A. Du Fresnoy De Arte Graphica Pref. p. xxxvi Since there must be Ornaments both in Painting and Poetry, if they are not necessary, they must at least be decent: that is, in their due place, and but moderately us'd.

1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 231. ⁋2 After a decent Time spent in the Father's House, the Bridegroom went to prepare his Seat for her Reception.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. v. iii. 132 So total a Change..that we think it decent to communicate it in a fresh Chapter. View more context for this quotation

1827 R. Pollok Course of Time I. iii. 89 Showing too, in plain and decent phrase.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 75 The founders of the Anglican Church had retained episcopacy as an ancient, a decent, and a convenient ecclesiastical polity, but had not declared that form of church government to be of divine institution.

1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII c. 5 A goodly..manour, decent and convenient for a king.

1549 H. Latimer 1st Serm. before Kynges Grace sig. Ciii God teacheth what honoure is decente for the kyng.

1640 J. Yorke Union of Honour 77 The Tombe..is not so decent, nor convenient as his honour and acts deserved.

1656 J. Smith Myst. Rhetorique Unvail'd 67 He useth a decent and due epithet, thus, Honourable Judge.

1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Basset-table in Court Poems 7 When Kings, Queens, Knaves are set in decent Rank.

a1794 E. Gibbon Memoirs in Misc. Wks. (1796) I. 126 The court was regulated with decent and splendid œconomy.

1545 G. Joye Expos. Daniel (vii.) f. 124 A fayer decent semely shewe of vtwarde deuocion.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. ii. 146 For Vertue, and true Beautie of the Soule, For honestie, and decent Carriage. View more context for this quotation

1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 306 To Praise a Mans selfe, cannot be Decent, except it be in rare Cases.

1712 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 29 Oct. 'Twill not be decent for me to inquire into y^t Affair.

1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. ii. x. 93 The regular decent life of a virtuous Man.

1754 Earl of Chatham Lett. to Nephew (1804) iv. 20 Be sure to associate..with men of decent and honourable lives.

1770 E. Gibbon On Æneid vi. in Misc. Wks. (1796) II. 507 The laws of honour are different in different ages; and a behaviour which in Augustus was decent, would have covered Æneas with infamy.

1830–2 W. Carleton Traits & Stories Irish Peasantry (Tegg) 375 Are you ladin' a dacenter or more becominer life?

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 265 Much more than they had any decent pretence for asking.

1865 Mill in Morning Star 6 July Would it have been decent in me to have gone among you and said, ‘I am the fittest man?’

1734 J. Swift Strephon & Cloe in Beautiful Young Nymph 21 Women must be decent; And, from the Spouse each Blemish hide.

1886 H. H. Johnston Kilimanjaro Exp. xix. 437 The Wa-Caga cannot be accused of indecency, for they make no effort to be decent, but walk about as Nature made them.

1949 R. Harvey Curtain Time 63 Sometimes, if she knew one of the actors or actresses, she would knock at a door and call ‘Are you decent?’ (That old theatrical phrase startled people who didn't belong to the theatre, but it simply meant ‘Are you dressed?’)

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 443. ⁋7 Honestus..makes modest Profit by modest Means, to the decent Support of his Family.

1738 A. Pope One Thousand Seven Hundred & Thirty Eight Dialogue II 7 Ev'n in a Bishop I can spy Desert; Secker is decent.

1771 Mrs. J. Harris in Private Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 239 Lord Herbert is at Wilton with his tutor..a decent well-behaved man.

1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems 50 Next with their boy, a decent couple came.

1831 T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle iii Captain F.—Many decent families are maintained on smaller means. Lady C.—Decent families: ay, decent is the distinction from respectable. Respectable means rich, and decent means poor. I should die if I heard my family called decent.

1879 ‘G. Eliot’ Theophrastus Such ii. 27 Most of us who have had decent parents.

1882 W. Ballantine Some Exper. Barrister's Life I. xxiii. 290 I remember a pantaloon..He was a very sober decent fellow.

1696 tr. J. Dumont New Voy. Levant 45 Others go about in a pretty decent Garb.

1738 Defoe's Compl. Eng. Tradesman (ed. 4) I. xxii. 275 A well furnish'd shop, with a decent outside.

1773 S. Johnson Let. 6 Sept. (1992) II. 67 In the afternoon tea was made by a very decent Girl in a printed Linen.

1843 J. W. Carlyle Lett. I. 227 I am getting together one decent suit of clothes for her.

1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer (ed. 2) I. 5 We made him look very decent.

1902 E. Nesbit Five Children & It iii. 101 ‘Well,’ said Cyril, ‘if you ask me I think it was rather decent of her’——‘Decent?’ said Anthea; ‘it was very nice indeed of her…’

1909 J. Galsworthy Joy 111 Couldn't you just go up and give her a message..it would be most awfully decent of you.

1910 L. A. Harker Master & Maid xvii. 255 Fellows had told him how cut up old Nick was when that chap died in his house, and Bruiser was a jolly sight decenter than old Nick.

1910 L. A. Harker Master & Maid xx. 308 He was a very decent chap, quite a man of the world.

1928 W. Deeping Old Pybus ix. §3 The pater has been rather decent.

1932 ‘N. Shute’ Lonely Road vi. 125 That's really very decent of you.

1944 R. Lehmann Ballad & Source 36 This is a ripping place, and they're being jolly decent to us.