social nicety

English

Noun

social nicety (countable and uncountable, plural social niceties)

1. (countable) A social behavior that is engaged in for the purpose of being polite; an act that reflects refinement, decorum, and courtesy.
   • 1994, Michael Byram, Teaching-and-learning Language-and-culture, page 139:

     Behaviour in this sense is a very broad term, not limited to notions of politeness, etiquette and social niceties of which members of a culture are aware and might find wanting in a foreigner.

   • 2011, Houman A. Sadri, ‎Madelyn Flammia, Intercultural Communication:

     The doctor should use formal greetings and establish rapport by asking about the patient's family, offering a drink, or performing some other social nicety before discussing the patient's medical problem.

   • 2020, Juliet Koprowska, Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work, page 37:

     In other words, expressiveness in the therapist was not just a social nicety, it enhanced recovery.

   • 2021, Arthur Franks, Social Dance: A Short History, page 124:

     The new and prosperous class of industrialists and manufacturers began to learn social niceties and extravagances from the aristocracy , but at the same leavened custom and fashion to their own more vigorous way of life.

2. (uncountable) Adherence to the social norms associated with high social status.
   • · 2007, Helen Chambers, Humor and Irony in Nineteenth-century German Women's Writing, page 19:

     There is the underlying irony that considerations of social nicety move the hostess, Fran von Brenkfeld to conceal Klemens's death and the Graf's illness under her roof from her guests.

   • 2018, Elizabeth S. Parks, The Ethics of Listening: Creating Space for Sustainable Dialogue:

     This expectation of social nicety may lead to the silencing of voices that speak out for social change by people who are enjoying a privileged social osition and suddenly feel uncomforatable by an apparent lack of "niceness" by voices that demand systemic change theat promotes equity for all.

   • 2019, Hymie Rubenstein, Coping With Poverty: Adaptive Strategies In A Caribbean Village:

     Accordingly, it is defined by such attributes as Christian monogamous marriage, respect for formal authority, sobriety, a preoccupation with upward mobility, and attention to elite norms of social nicety, decorum, and manners.