deportment
noun
Jonathan Swift
Did you know?
Deportment evolved from the verb deport, meaning "to behave especially in accord with a code," which in turn came to us through Middle French from Latin deportare, meaning "to carry away." (You may also know deport as a verb meaning "to send out of the country"; that sense is newer and is derived directly from Latin deportare.) Deportment can simply refer to one's demeanor, or it can refer to behavior formed by breeding or training and often conforming to conventional rules of propriety: "Are you not gratified that I am so rapidly gaining correct ideas of female propriety and sedate deportment?" wrote 17-year-old Emily Dickinson to her brother Austin.
Synonyms
- actions
- address
- bearing
- behavior
- comportment
- conduct
- demeanor
- geste [archaic]
- gest
Example Sentences
David Zucchino, BostonGlobe.com, 21 May 2022 Those were apparently old and quaint rules of deportment. John Zogby, Forbes, 22 Apr. 2022 Membership is determined by a student’s scholastic achievement, attendance, deportment, participation in career-technical student organizations and teacher recommendations. Carol Kovach, cleveland, 18 Apr. 2022 More on the deportment of the Americans and British in a bit, but for now how could American and British leaders have been so easily duped? John Tamny, Forbes, 13 Apr. 2022 And for business leaders, tasked with leading people through tough times, Zalenskyy's deportment offers lessons that are transferable even when the stakes aren't as high. Aman Kidwai, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2022 Flame Show Bar, Gordy had his performers tutored in deportment. Washington Post, 2 Dec. 2021 But where Navalny’s public presentation is cocky, droll, and irreverent, Sobol has the deportment of a straight-A student, a tireless nerd. Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 19 July 2021 Something in their door-to-door deportment, their earnestness and brio, seemed a soft rebuke to my own disenchantment. Andrew Kay, Longreads, 17 July 2021 See More Word History
see deport
1601, in the meaning defined above
deportment
noun
Synonyms & Similar Words
- behavior
- demeanor
- actions
- comportment
- conduct
- attitude
- manners
- presence
- address
- bearing
- trait
- characteristic
- look
- geste
- etiquette
- posture
- gest
- style
- decorum
- courtesy
- pose
- politeness
- proprieties
- practice
- affectation
- form
- poise
- civility
- habit
- carriage
- mores
- mien
- air
- rules
- aspect
- formality
- mode
- attribute
- pattern
- protocol
- distinctiveness
- custom
- form
- amenity
- convention
- fashion
- practise
- peculiarity
- habitude
- trick
- singularity
- wont
- uniqueness
- strangeness
- weirdness
- p's and q's
- mark
- oddity
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of deportment are bearing, carriage, demeanor, manner, and mien. While all these words mean "the outward manifestation of personality or attitude," deportment suggests actions or behavior as formed by breeding or training.
The synonyms bearing and deportment are sometimes interchangeable, but bearing is the most general of these words but now usually implies characteristic posture.
The words carriage and deportment are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, carriage applies chiefly to habitual posture in standing or walking.
Although the words demeanor and deportment have much in common, demeanor suggests one's attitude toward others as expressed in outward behavior.
While the synonyms manner and deportment are close in meaning, manner implies characteristic or customary way of moving and gesturing and addressing others.
The meanings of mien and deportment largely overlap; however, mien is a literary term referring both to bearing and demeanor.