respectable

English

Etymology

From respect +‎ -able.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): [ɹɪˈspɛk.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

• savory

Antonyms

• contemptible
• despicable
• disrespectable
• unrespectable

Derived terms

• nonrespectable
• respectableness
• respectablize
• semirespectable
• superrespectable
• ultrarespectable

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) Greek: ευυπόληπτος (el) (evypóliptos), αξιοσέβαστος (el) (axiosévastos) 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) Ukrainian: пова́жний (povážnyj)

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) Greek: σεβαστός (el) (sevastós) 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.

   • 1978 February 11, Michael Bronski, “The Gayest Parade In Town”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 31, page 13:

     The tensions between the "respectables" and the "gay spoilers"

   • 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): (Valencia) [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 [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “respectable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “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 (France (Toulouse)):

  (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 (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025