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# respectable

«respectable» in Mova's school dictionary: **Thought by people to be good, honest and proper in the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (respectable, more respectable, most respectable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Thought by people to be good, honest and proper in the way you live and behave. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#m1)

2) Decent and good enough to be seen: «Put on something respectable for the wedding.» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#m2)

3) Fairly good or fairly large, though not excellent: «a respectable score», «a respectable sum of money». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories about Victorian and Edwardian England, being respectable mattered a lot: a respectable family had a clean house, went to church and behaved properly. In The Wind in the Willows Toad's wild driving and stealing a car make him far from respectable, and his friends try to make him behave. In school we may get «a respectable mark» in a test – not top, but good. Phrases: «perfectly respectable», «a respectable distance», «look respectable».

### examples

- Comb your hair and look respectable for the photo. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x1)
- They were a respectable family who never missed church on Sunday. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x2)
- Our team scored a respectable 45 points. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x3)
- The Badger said that a respectable animal does not drive cars into ponds. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x4)
- She saved a respectable amount of money for her holiday. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x5)
- Keep a respectable distance from the edge of the cliff. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x6)
- His old coat was patched but still respectable. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x7)
- "Here's a nice end for a respectable blacksmith!" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/#x8)

### note

Do not mix up with «respectful» (showing respect to others): a respectful pupil listens politely; a respectable person is respected by others. Ends in «-able», not «-ible».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «respectable» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/respectable/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.