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Definition of decent adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

decent

adjective
 
/ˈdiːsnt/
 
/ˈdiːsnt/
Idioms
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  1. of a good enough standard or quality
    • a decent meal/place to live
    • Mark did a decent job as a replacement for Turner.
    • I just want to get a decent job with decent pay.
    • a decent pension/wage/standard of living
    • I need a decent night's sleep.
    • We think he's got a decent chance of qualifying.
    • (informal) The acting in the film is actually pretty decent.
    Extra Examples
    • The restaurant looked decent enough.
    • We had trouble finding a hotel that was halfway decent.
    • He looks as if he could do with a decent meal.
    • We aim to provide decent affordable housing for everyone.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • look
    adverb
    • really
    • very
    • perfectly
    preposition
    • to
    See full entry
  2. (of people or behaviour) honest and fair; treating people with respect
    • ordinary, decent, hard-working people
    • Everyone said he was a decent sort of guy.
    • Mr Harvey emerged as a thoroughly decent bloke.
    • decent to somebody My uncle has been pretty decent to me.
    • decent of somebody That's very decent of you.
    Topics Personal qualitiesb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    adverb
    • very
    • really
    • perfectly
    phrases
    • do the decent thing
    See full entry
  3. acceptable to people in a particular situation
    • a decent burial
    • That dress isn't decent.
    • She ought to have waited for a decent interval before getting married again.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • look
    adverb
    • really
    • very
    • perfectly
    preposition
    • to
    See full entry
  4. (informal) wearing enough clothes to allow somebody to see you
    • I can't go to the door—I'm not decent.
    compare indecent
  5. Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘suitable, appropriate’): from Latin decent- ‘being fitting’, from the verb decere.
Idioms
to do the decent thing
  1. to do what people or society expect, especially in a difficult situation
    • He did the decent thing and resigned.
See decent in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee decent in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
alloy
noun
 
 
From the Topic
Physics and chemistry
C2
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