Search the Dictionary

Impropriety. [Obs.]

uality or state of being incongruous; want of congruity; unsuitableness; inconsistency; impropriety. The fathers make use of this acknowledgment of the incongruity of images to the Deity, from thence to prove the incongruity of the worship of them. Bp. Stillingfleet.

Not considerate; not attentive to safety or to propriety; not regarding the rights or feelings of others; hasty; careless; thoughtless; heedless; as, the young are generally inconsiderate; inconsiderate conduct. It is a very unhappy token of our corruption, that therinconsiderate among us as to sacrifice morality to po…

Want of decorum; impropriety of behavior; that in behavior or manners which violates the established rules of civility, custom, or etiquette; indecorousness.

lity of being indelicate; want of delicacy, or of a nice sense of, or regard for, purity, propriety, or refinement in manners, language, etc.; rudeness; coarseness; also, that which is offensive to refined taste or purity of mind. The indelicacy of English comedy. Blair. Your papers would be chargeable with worse than…

ty or state of being inexpedient; want of fitness; unsuitableness to the end or object; impropriety; as, the inexpedience of some measures. It is not the rigor but the inexpediency of laws and acts of authority which makes them tyrannical. Paley.

Not transgressing the requirement of truth and propriety; conformed to the truth of things, to reason, or to a proper standard; exact; normal; reasonable; regular; due; as, a just statement; a just inference. Just of thy word, in every thought sincere. Pope. The prince is here at hand: pleaseth your lordship To meet hi…

ow to be just; to vindicate; to maintain or defend as conformable to law, right, justice, propriety, or duty. That to the height of this great argument I may assert eternal providence, And justify the ways of God to men. Milton. Unless the oppression is so extreme as to justify revolution, it would not justify the evil…

In a just manner; in conformity to law, justice, or propriety; by right; honestly; fairly; accurately. "In equal balance justly weighed." Shak. Nothing can justly be despised that can not justly be blamed: where there is no choice there can be no blame. South.

The quality of being just; conformity to truth, propriety, accuracy, exactness, and the like; justice; reasonableness; fairness; equity; as, justness of proportions; the justness of a description or representation; the justness of a cause. In value the satisfaction I had in seeing it represented with all the justness a…

A privilege or license in violation of the laws of etiquette or propriety; as, to permit, or take, a liberty. He was repeatedly provoked into striking those who had taken liberties with him. Macaulay.

ss of liberty; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law or decorum; disregard of law or propriety. License they mean when they cry liberty. Milton.

Fitness; suitableness; propriety.

Restraining within due limits of propriety; not forward, bold, boastful, or presumptious; rather retiring than pushing one's self forward; not obstructive; as, a modest youth; a modest man.

ng personal charms and the sexual relation; purity of thought and manners; due regard for propriety in speech or action. Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty. Shak. Modesty piece, a narrow piece of lace worn by women over the bosom. [Obs.] Addison.

ween kings and their people, parents and their children, there is so great a necessitude, propriety, and intercourse of nature. Jer. Taylor.

The act of omitting; neglect or failure to do something required by propriety or duty. The most natural division of all offenses is into those of omission and those of commission. Addison.

in a high degree; as, a particularly fortunate man; a particularly bad failure. The exact propriety of Virgil I particularly regarded as a great part of his character. Dryden.

To turn from truth, rectitude, or propriety; to divert from a right use, end, or way; to lead astray; to corrupt; also, to misapply; to misinterpret designedly; as, to pervert one's words. Dryden. He, in the serpent, had perverted Eve. Milton.

The art of manner of uttering a discourse publicly with propriety and gracefulness; -- now called delivery. J. Q. Adams.