respectablere‧spect‧a‧ble /rɪˈspektəbəl/ ●●○ adjective 
Examples
hard-working, respectable people a respectable family Put a tie on – it’ll make you look more respectable.2good or satisfactory SYN decent: a respectable income Her exam results were respectable enough.—respectably adverb—respectability /rɪˌspektəˈbɪləti/ noun [uncountable]
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- A "B" is a perfectly respectable grade.
- a respectable neighborhood
- Tony was always in trouble with the police when he was young, but now he's a respectable married man.
- And this is a respectable girl, Harvey.
- Crucially, however, incorporation into the upper reaches of strategy-making is offered only to representatives of the respectable citizenry.
- It was very nearly respectable, reaching over half way down her thighs.
- Students were to be taken in as boarders, having been recommended by a respectable person who knew them or their families.
Longman Language Activatormorally good person► good
Collocations kind, honest, and helpful: · Jean's a very good person - she's always ready to help.· He had always tried to lead a good life.· I wish I could be a better person.· There are good and bad people wherever you go.
► decent someone who is decent is good and honest according to the normal standards of society: · Decent citizens have nothing to fear from the police.· a decent, honest, hard-working woman· Decent members of the public will be outraged by this decision.
► respectable behaving and living your life in a way that is considered morally correct by society, especially because of the family you come from: · Tony was always in trouble with the police when he was young, but now he's a respectable married man.· The girls in the school all come from very respectable families.
► upright written someone who is upright is honest, obeys the law, and behaves according to the moral standards of society: · Most upright, law-abiding citizens have very little contact with the police.· Maggie's parents set her a good example, being upright and hard-working people.
► virtuous formal very good and honest and always behaving according to the highest moral standards: · Father Tom was a hard-working, virtuous man, liked and respected by everyone.· They wanted him to marry a virtuous young woman from a respectable family.
► saint someone who is unusually kind, generous, helpful etc and is therefore considered to be very special: · Your mother's a saint. She's done so much to help us.· I always thought she was a selfish woman but she was an absolute saint compared to Abigail.
► saintly behaving in a very good way, especially by living your life in a very pure and holy way: · He was a saintly man who always put others before himself.· There were aspects of her life that were not as saintly as the Victorians liked to believe.
► be an example to to be so good or to have achieved something so good that other people would improve if they tried to be like you: · You're a very brave young man. An example to all of us!· His discipline and organization should be an example to teachers everywhere.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► a respectable/decent citizen
Word family (=good and honest)· There are gangs on the streets who are terrorizing respectable citizens.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► highly· Arthur was, in fact, a highly respectable dresser.· By the nineteenth century it was a highly respectable area lived in by bankers amongst others.· And they already seem to have found some highly respectable regulars.
► more· Lebed is a more respectable type of nationalist than Zhirinovsky, but his belief in democracy is hazy.· Meanwhile, the birth control movement was becoming more respectable.· The authors conclude that the improving image of the game drew a wider and more respectable public, including more women.· The voter knows that an affirmative answer would be considered more respectable than the truth.· The barge-dwellers, creatures neither of firm land nor water, would have liked to be more respectable than they were.· This inexpensive and popular format effectively challenged the older, more respectable Wall Street newspapers in the battle for readers.· Arguments such as this are in principle more respectable than the argument based on sheer, naked incredulity.· Singing was fun, but realistically, I knew I had to choose something more respectable.
► most· This was the most respectable strain of Unionist opposition to the coalition.· For many years, most respectable doctors shunned the use of diet pills.· He would go to his evening reading in his most respectable suit and brazen it out.· This was insider trading at its most respectable.· Yet in even the most respectable and credible sources, arithmetical mistakes can, and occasionally do, creep in.
► perfectly· That is a perfectly respectable point of view-as long as you have the courage to spell it out.· It may be a debatable approach, but it is perfectly respectable and coherent.· There are some perfectly respectable actors involved.· For a philosophical Idealist, this is a perfectly respectable approach, whatever one thinks of it.
► very· And borrowing for house purchase has always been accepted as very respectable.· Indeed, on a smaller scale, a portfolio of small caps could turn in a very respectable performance.· We were a very respectable family and I was the second child.· He is however, a very respectable young Gentleman, and deserves the honor which his Country has bestowed on him.· I got the job on the magazine and then the advertising one then. Very respectable and good money.· His nomenclature has a very respectable literary history.· After all, suburbs have a very respectable antiquity.· She smiled at the thought while she changed again into something very respectable and went out for provisions.
NOUN► citizen· But more recent material has presented lesbians and gay men as nice respectable citizens - just like anyone else.
► family· We were a very respectable family and I was the second child.· To confront violence in an otherwise respectable family reflects poorly on the mission and ideals of a church.· Blonde, 21-year-old Elizabeth Dugan, who comes from a respectable family, went on trial yesterday for attempted murder.· He came from a respectable family.· Ashbee, born in 1834, became a successful City businessman, travel writer and respectable family man.· It was dark, and silent, from the outside no different from the respectable family mansions that flanked it.
► fear· Even the poor old bicycle was dragged into the act, amidst a blizzard of respectable fears.
► people· It threw too many respectable people on to the Poor Law and caused the loss of many working days.· How the quite respectable people who lived under these conditions managed to bring up families, I shall never know.
WORD FAMILYnounrespect ≠ disrespectrespectabilityrespecterrespectfulnessadjectiverespectablerespectedrespectful ≠ disrespectfulrespectiveadverbrespectablyrespectfully ≠ disrespectfullyrespectivelyverbrespect ≠ disrespect
1someone who is respectable behaves in a way that is considered socially acceptable: hard-working, respectable people a respectable family Put a tie on – it’ll make you look more respectable.2good or satisfactory SYN decent: a respectable income Her exam results were respectable enough.—respectably adverb—respectability /rɪˌspektəˈbɪləti/ noun [uncountable]