decently

Everyday

1. Decently means in a polite, fair and respectable way that people think is right. tree →
2. Decently can mean well enough or fairly well: «decently paid». tree →
3. Decently can mean wearing enough clothes, not showing too much. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life, «treat people decently» means fairly and kindly. In money matters, a job that pays decently pays enough to live on. In stories, a character is «decently dressed» for church or a visit. In The Wind in the Willows Badger insists that Toad behave decently.

Examples

• Please treat everyone decently. tree →
• She did decently in the test. tree →
• The workers wanted to be decently paid. tree →
• Are you decently dressed? We have visitors. tree →
• He behaved decently after losing. tree →
• The town looked after its poor decently. tree →
• Some say it was the fatigue that killed her, but whichever it was, Mrs. Connor was decently buried with her own people. tree →

Note

From «decent» (pronounced DEE-sent). Do not confuse with «descent» (going down) or «dissent» (disagreement).