Jenny Daggers links feminist critiques and interreligious dialogue, arguing that our failure to treat people of other traditions with dignity matches in deed and rhetoric our inability to see that women are full and equal members of the community.—Francis X. Clooney, Commonweal, 11 Sept. 2009When King spoke about the racist past, he gloried in black people beating the odds to win equal rights by arming "ourselves with dignity and self-respect."—Juan Williams, Wall Street Journal, 4 Apr. 2008The period just after the Revolutionary War (1780-1820) was a time to project hard-won dignity, not show off. Federal interiors featured muted wall colors … and delicately carved or inlaid decoration.—Kelly Beamon, This Old House, March 2008Roger was beaming. His creased fat face literally shone with pleasure, which, for the sake of dignity, he struggled to contain.—Alice Adams, The Story and Its Writer, 1987Every speaker tries to create a love affair with his or her audience. But when the phenomenon called Maya Angelou takes the lectern at Pensacola (Florida) Junior College, she does not so much speak to the audience as "embrace" it. She sings, reads verse, thunders oratorically, even dances. Standing a majestic six feet tall and gifted with a resonant voice and … dignity, she is a poet, preacher, performer extraordinaire.—Cheryl McCall, People, 8 Mar. 1982
She showed dignity in defeat.
The ceremony was conducted with great dignity.
Theirs is a country that cherishes freedom and human dignity.
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Outraged by decades of repression, people took to the streets demanding fundamental change, respect for human rights and dignity and calling for an end to the Islamic Republic system.—Hamid Kashani, Twin Cities, 5 Feb. 2026 Your 2nd House of Assets hosts loving Venus, who sextiles therapeutic Chiron in your 4th House of Support, encouraging choices that protect family stability and personal dignity.—Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 Feb. 2026 But, in contrast, countries controlled by ruthless leaders have no qualms about stripping citizens of basic dignity.—Sasha Abramsky, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2026 South-View Cemetery remains a place of remembrance and reflection, standing as a record of Black Atlanta's past and the determination of those who fought to claim dignity in death.—Daniel Wilkerson, CBS News, 2 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for dignity
Word History
Etymology
Middle English dignete, from Anglo-French digneté, from Latin dignitat-, dignitas, from dignus