respectable

English

Etymology

respect +‎ -able

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): [ɹɪ.ˈspɛk.tə.bl̩]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

respectable (comparative more respectable, superlative most respectable)

1. Deserving respect.

   His accomplishments, morals, loyalty, and stature make him a respectable person.

   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

     In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. In this way all respectable burgesses, down to fifty years ago, spent their evenings.

2. Decent; satisfactory.

   Turn up to the interview wearing something respectable.  She plays a respectable game of chess.  He got a respectable B+ on his last exam.

3. Moderately well-to-do.

Synonyms

• honorable

Antonyms

• contemptible
• despicable
• disrespectable
• unrespectable

Related terms

• respectability
• respectabilize
• respectably

Translations

deserving respect

• Arabic: محترم
• Bulgarian: почтен (bg) (počten), уважаван (bg) (uvažavan)
• Catalan: respectable (ca)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏥᎸᏉᏗ (atsilvquodi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 受人尊敬的 (shòu rén zūnjìng de), 可敬 (zh) (kějìng), 體面的／体面的 (zh) (tǐmiàn de), 尊貴／尊贵 (zh) (zūnguì)

• Czech: vážený (cs) m, úctyhodný (cs) m
• Danish: respektabel (da)
• Esperanto: respektinda
• Finnish: kunnioitettava (fi)
• French: respectable (fr)
• Galician: respectable (gl)
• German: angesehen (de), geachtet (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌿𐌸𐍃 (gariuþs)
• Ido: respektinda (io)
• Irish: oiriúnach
• Italian: rispettabile (it)
• Japanese: 尊ぶべき (ja) (tōtobu beki)
• Latin: reverendus (la)
• Norman: respectabl'ye
• Polish: godny szacunku
• Portuguese: respeitável (pt)
• Romanian: respectabil (ro)
• Russian: уважа́емый (ru) (uvažájemyj), почте́нный (ru) (počténnyj), респекта́бельный (ru) (respektábelʹnyj)
• Sanskrit: प्रमुख (sa) (pramukha)
• Spanish: respetable (es)
• Telugu: మర్యాదైన (maryādaina)
• Turkish: saygıdeğer (tr), saygın (tr)

decent; satisfactory

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: приличен (bg) (priličen), приемлив (bg) (priemliv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: kelvollinen (fi), kunnollinen (fi)
• French: convenable (fr), (informal) pas mal (fr)
• Portuguese: razoável (pt)
• Ukrainian: присто́йний (prystójnyj)

Noun

respectable (plural respectables)

1. A person who is respectable.
   • 1872, Thomas Cooper, The Life of Thomas Cooper, page 221:

     They forced their way into the meetings called by the respectables; and the respectables disappeared. It was of their own respectable good pleasure that they withdrew.

   • 2014, Mitchell Duneier, Philip Kasinitz, Alexandra Murphy, The Urban Ethnography Reader, page 38:

     The “respectables”, then, impute to themselves an absence of such character blemishes, or stated in more positive terms, an allegiance to American mainstream morality.

See also

• respectful
• respective

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [rəs.pəkˈtab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [res.pekˈta.ble]

Adjective

respectable m or f (masculine and feminine plural respectables)

1. respectable

Derived terms

• respectabilitat

Related terms

• respectar

Further reading

• “respectable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “respectable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “respectable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “respectable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From respect +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɛs.pɛk.tabl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: respectables
• Hyphenation: res‧pec‧table

Adjective

respectable (plural respectables)

1. respectable

Derived terms

• respectablement

Further reading

• “respectable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Alternative forms

• respectábel

Adjective

respectable m or f (plural respectables)

1. respectable

Derived terms

• respectabilidade

Related terms

• respectar

Further reading

• “respectable” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.