re·spect·able
ri-ˈspek-tə-bəl 
2
: decent or correct in character or behavior : proper
3
a
: fair in size or quantity
a respectable amount
b
: moderately good : tolerable
4
: fit to be seen : presentable
respectable clothes
: a respectable person
Synonyms
Examples of respectable in a Sentence
Adjective
She comes from a very respectable family.
no respectable dietician would advise people to eat just one kind of food
Recent Examples on the Web
Aaron Gregg, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
Baltimore is now America’s 17th-biggest port by tonnage—a respectable rank, if a far cry from the early days of the United States, when shipping made the city the third-most-populous in the country—and may well drop further down the list if the harbor remains inaccessible.
—Rachel Gutman-Wei, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2024
In its first day in release, the title amassed a respectable 121.5 million minutes watched, per Luminate.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 25 Mar. 2024
But by taking content moderation seriously earlier than many of its rivals, and coming up with a sensible, scalable plan to root out despicable behavior, Reddit was able to shed its image as the sewage pit of the internet and become a respectable (if not yet profitable) public company.
—Kevin Roose, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
How Fast Can North American Deer Species Run? When compared to other deer species, whitetails are respectable, but not world-class.
—Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 28 Feb. 2024
The Model 3’s 274 miles of arctic driving still put it in a fairly respectable eighth place using that particular metric, despite falling well short of expectations.
—Alistair Charlton, WIRED, 5 Feb. 2024
The very funny Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret (or Ma’am Darling in the UK) shows how shocking stories of Princess Margaret’s bad behavior served to make her sister, the Queen, look more respectable.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 13 Mar. 2024
That’s much less than the $7 million CBS charged for the Super Bowl this year, but the Oscars bring in a respectable $120 million in ad revenue for ABC on Oscar Sunday.
—Jasmine Li, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2024
Sean Wilentz, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2017
Adjective
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also notched a respectable first quarter with a gain of 5.5 percent, which analysts took as a welcome sign that the current rally isn’t wholly dependent on Big Tech.
—Aaron Gregg, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
Baltimore is now America’s 17th-biggest port by tonnage—a respectable rank, if a far cry from the early days of the United States, when shipping made the city the third-most-populous in the country—and may well drop further down the list if the harbor remains inaccessible.
—Rachel Gutman-Wei, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2024
In its first day in release, the title amassed a respectable 121.5 million minutes watched, per Luminate.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 25 Mar. 2024
But by taking content moderation seriously earlier than many of its rivals, and coming up with a sensible, scalable plan to root out despicable behavior, Reddit was able to shed its image as the sewage pit of the internet and become a respectable (if not yet profitable) public company.
—Kevin Roose, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024
How Fast Can North American Deer Species Run? When compared to other deer species, whitetails are respectable, but not world-class.
—Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 28 Feb. 2024
The Model 3’s 274 miles of arctic driving still put it in a fairly respectable eighth place using that particular metric, despite falling well short of expectations.
—Alistair Charlton, WIRED, 5 Feb. 2024
The very funny Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret (or Ma’am Darling in the UK) shows how shocking stories of Princess Margaret’s bad behavior served to make her sister, the Queen, look more respectable.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 13 Mar. 2024
That’s much less than the $7 million CBS charged for the Super Bowl this year, but the Oscars bring in a respectable $120 million in ad revenue for ABC on Oscar Sunday.
—Jasmine Li, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2024
Noun
Shaken respectables thought the Paris Commune had crossed the Atlantic.
—Sean Wilentz, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'respectable.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near respectable
Cite this Entry
“Respectable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/respectable. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
respectable
adjective
re·spect·able
ri-ˈspek-tə-bəl
1
: worthy of respect : reputable
2
: decent or correct in character or behavior : proper
respectable people
3
: fair in size, quality, or quantity
a respectable amount of money
4
: fit to be seen : presentable
respectable clothes
respectability
noun
-ˌspek-tə-ˈbil-ət-ē
respectableness
noun
-ˈspek-tə-bəl-nəs
respectably
adverb
-blē
More from Merriam-Webster on respectable
Nglish: Translation of respectable for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of respectable for Arabic Speakers
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