respectable

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-

Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *spéḱyeti

Proto-Italic *spekjō

Latin speciō

Latin respiciō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

Latin respectus

Old French respectbor.

Middle English respect

English respectdenom.

English respect

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin -ābilis

Old French -ablebor.

Middle English -able

English -able

English respectable

From respect + -able.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): [ɹɪˈspɛk.tə.bɫ̩], [ɹə-]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

respectable (comparative more respectable, superlative most respectable)

1. Deserving respect.

   Synonyms: admirable, laudable, venerable; see also Thesaurus:respectable

   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.

   • 1932, Jules Furthman, Shanghai Express, spoken by Hui Fei (Anna May Wong):

     Don't you find respectable people terribly dull?

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
• savory

Antonyms

• contemptible
• despicable
• disrespectable
• unrespectable

Derived terms

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

Related terms

• respectability
• respectabilize
• respectably

Translations

deserving respect

• Arabic: مُحْتَرَم (muḥtaram)
• 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: 得體的 / 得体的 (détǐ de), 令人滿意的 / 令人满意的 (lìngrén mǎnyì de), 得當的 / 得当的 (dédàng de)

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

moderately well-to-do

•  Chinese:

   Mandarin: 小康的 (xiǎokāng de), 中產階級的 / 中产阶级的 (zhōngchǎn jiējí de), 中等富裕的 (zhōngděng fùyù de)

•  Finnish: kohtalaisen varakas
•  French: please add this translation if you can

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.

Translations

person who is respectable

•  Chinese:

   Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

•  Finnish: kunnioitettava (fi)
•  French: please add this translation if you can

See also

• respectful
• respective

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [rəs.pəkˈtab.blə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [res.pekˈta.ble]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [res.pekˈtab.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, 2026
• “respectable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “respectable”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

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, 2012–2026