dignitydig‧ni‧ty /ˈdɪɡnəti/ ●●○ noun [uncountable] 
The family faced their ordeal with dignity. an appearance of quiet dignity2your dignity your sense of your own value or importanceretain/lose your dignity Old people need to retain their dignity and independence. Arguing was beneath her dignity (=was something she thought she was too important to do).3the fact of being respected or deserving respectwith dignity Patients should be allowed to die with dignity. Prisoners should be treated with regard for human dignity.4a calm and serious qualitydignity of the dignity of the occasion5stand on your dignity formal to demand to be treated with proper respect
WORD ORIGINdignity
Origin:
1100-1200 Old French dignité, from Latin dignitas ‘worth’, from dignus ‘deserving admiration’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Juana Alvarez was a woman of compassion and dignity.
- Lawyers must respect the dignity of the court.
- She lost her home and all her money, but she never lost her dignity.
- Very sick people should be allowed to die with dignity.
- Both solemn and very funny, it insistently finds poetry in the projects, dignity on the street.
- Chichester, by contrast, acquired a considerable dignity from its role as a religious centre.
- It may lend a certain dignity to the whole transaction but is notoriously slow.
- Oh, no! that would be beneath her dignity.
- Penn is granted human dignity by Sarandon, the nun who gently coaxes him into his own redemption.
- She also was pregnant, but she bore her troubles with dignity and we all admired her very much.
- This was based on an explicit philosophy of preserving the dignity and independence of patients.
Longman Language Activatora feeling of respect for yourself
a feeling of respect and confidence in yourself and in your abilities: · It is difficult to keep your self-respect when you have been unemployed for a long time· Serious illness often results in a loss of confidence and self-respect.
the feeling that you are someone who deserves to be liked, respected, and admired: · The program is designed to help children from broken families build their self-esteem.low/high self-esteem (=a bad or good feeling about yourself): · When I started seeing my therapist, I was suffering from very low self-esteem.
the ability to behave in a calm way that shows that you respect yourself, even in difficult situations: do something with dignity: · Very sick people should be allowed to die with dignity.lose your dignity: · She lost her home and all her money, but she never lost her dignity.
the feeling that you deserve to be respected by other people - use this especially when this feeling is so strong that someone finds it difficult to admit they need help or that they are wrong: · He has too much pride to say he's sorry.· Her pride would not allow her to ask for help.hurt somebody's pride: · We don't like failing - it hurts our pride.
behaving in a calm way, even in a difficult situation, so that other people respect and admire you: · She was a quiet, dignified old lady.· Jo listened to their criticisms in dignified silence.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Old people need to retain their dignity and independence. Arguing was beneath her dignity (=was something she thought she was too important to do). Prisoners should be treated with regard for human dignity.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He felt it would be beneath his dignity to comment.
1the ability to behave in a calm controlled way even in a difficult situationwith dignity Old people need to retain their dignity and independence. Arguing was beneath her dignity (=was something she thought she was too important to do). Prisoners should be treated with regard for human dignity. He felt it would be beneath his dignity to comment. (=not saying much but making other people have a particular feeling about you) Jack’s air of quiet authority
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE Jack’s air of quiet authority· It may lend a certain dignity to the whole transaction but is notoriously slow.· Jimmy and the other two escaped with only a certain loss of dignity.· Also, it was nevertheless her Sunday best and, as such, had a certain innate dignity in spite of its nastiness.· He was not fat, although the years had lent a certain dignity to his midriff, he was just huge.
· Faces of great dignity and considerable charm.· He says that there is great dignity in whaling.· Then he turned, extricating himself from the clutter round his feet, and went, with great dignity, downstairs.· Slowly and with great dignity, Tsu Ma climbed the steps until he stood there at his dead father's side.· We have adopted it because it gives greater strength and dignity and fullness to the design.· I behaved with great dignity and showed none of the resentment I may have felt.· There is also through the training strategy an attempt to give this work greater dignity and esteem.· He bore his affliction with a great dignity.
· The relationship struck at the very roots of their human dignity.· And in this expectation, even were it to be misguided, there is certainly more human dignity.· She was spared the trauma of dinner, the object lesson in human dignity, and the smoke of Revolution.· The new technology of automation had stripped them of any human dignity in their labour.· The real issue, they predict, will boil down to fairness and simple human dignity.· If we are interested in real peace and human dignity our attitudes and perspectives should change.· This belief runs counter both to demographics and to the demands of human dignity.
· Money means mobility, money means independence and personal dignity.· They see their social life as a struggle for personal dignity in a general social framework that daily denies them this dignity.· Neither should the inspector be too conscious of personal dignity.· Noble sense of personal dignity had passed the point where such treatment was tolerable.· Everyone's standards of behaviour deteriorate so that all personal dignity evaporates.
· In public, the Khmer Rouge leaders have a quiet dignity.· Her quiet dignity and solicitousness, despite her illness, impressed us.· We painted women washing clothes in the waters of Lake Bratan - a timeless ritual conducted with quiet dignity.· Dunblane grieved for its children, with quiet dignity.· I won't feel so stupid next time; the whole thing had a quiet dignity about it and I felt good.· She is glad to share reminiscences of Mansfield, the quiet dignity of which now appears valuable to her.
VERB· Instead he became a national hero who enjoyed a long life ... and who died with dignity.· That is the feeding tube being removed and him being allowed to die with dignity.
· It must be Government policy to give the lifer some dignity.· He gave the dignity to youthful labor that only good teachers can provide.· We have adopted it because it gives greater strength and dignity and fullness to the design.· He was the soapbox orator who could quote Virgil or Shakespeare to give dignity to a bitter grudge.· It gave a curious dignity to the tall crumbling tenements, covering the squalor and ugliness with purifying whiteness.· There is also through the training strategy an attempt to give this work greater dignity and esteem.· We need to give children dignity and self-respect.· Railway builders gave a special dignity and significance to the treatment of tunnel entrances.
· How did old Father Firmin keep his dignity, I ask myself.
· It may lend a certain dignity to the whole transaction but is notoriously slow.· George Pataki have felt it necessary to lend the dignity of their offices to the national swoon this incident has provoked.· He was not fat, although the years had lent a certain dignity to his midriff, he was just huge.
· Criticism should never cause the recipient to lose face, inner dignity or self-respect.· He had lost his dignity years ago.· No, it wasn't only her father who had lost his dignity.· Twenty centuries since she watched her Son's long agony on the cross female sorrow has lost all dignity.· Many family arguments are made worse because people are afraid of losing their dignity.
· Crosby has maintained his dignity despite a constant catalogue of names linked with the post.· Even with a rush of students, the building maintained its dignity.· A butch lesbian with motherly tendencies, she maintained her dignity and in some lights could look beautiful.· How nobly they fought to maintain their dignity in the face of such awful hardship and humiliation.· The Funeral Director has to deal with every class of Society. Maintain your dignity under all circumstances.· Those who have maintained a sliver of dignity through all of this look on from the side, shaking their heads.
· She preserved her dignity, independence and way of life.· We can provide solace and preserve dignity and human potential through the very end of life.· This was based on an explicit philosophy of preserving the dignity and independence of patients.· How are we going to take care of them, preserve their dignity?· George was probably wise to kill Lennie the way he did, preserving Lennie's dignity.· The first priority is to preserve the dignity of the palaces.
· It deserves to retain its dignity and to escape trivialisation.· So long as people can walk out of a room and say they have decided to leave on their terms, they retain their dignity.· Only James Callaghan, reshuffled after devaluation in 1967, retained enough dignity to rise again to the top.
· As employers, we are responsible for making sure employees are treated with respect and dignity.
· Bernie tries to save some dignity.· If you say he's a Leo, you really want to try and puncture his dignity a bit.
The family faced their ordeal with dignity. an appearance of quiet dignity2your dignity your sense of your own value or importanceretain/lose your dignity Old people need to retain their dignity and independence. Arguing was beneath her dignity (=was something she thought she was too important to do).3the fact of being respected or deserving respectwith dignity Patients should be allowed to die with dignity. Prisoners should be treated with regard for human dignity.4a calm and serious qualitydignity of the dignity of the occasion5stand on your dignity formal to demand to be treated with proper respect