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Decorous describes behaviour or appearance that is right for the occasion: polite, calm, and a little careful. A decorous silence at a funeral; decorous clothes at a ceremony. It is a formal, slightly old-fashioned word. Younger people almost never say it in casual talk; they would say proper, polite, or well-behaved. Though actually, decorous is not the same as good, and it is not the same as , even though the spelling looks related. Laughing loudly can be warm and kind at a party and still not be decorous at a formal dinner. The word is about fitting the room you are in, and it often carries a faint smell of old rules and 'what people will think.' You can be kind and still not decorous; you can be decorous and still cold.
得體的、端莊的、合乎場合禮儀的（偏書面、略古；口語較常說「得體」「有禮貌」）
組成From Latin decōrus (becoming, fitting, proper) + English -ous. Latin decōrus comes from decor (grace, a fitting beauty), from decēre / decet, 'to be proper or to adorn.' Late Latin decorōsus ('full of grace') may also have had a hand in the English shape.
同家族的字
- decorumthe noun: the proper behaviour that a decorous person keeps
- decorouslythe adverb: in a decorous way
- decorsame Latin decor root, but English decor is about a room's look, not manners
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
decorousadj/ˈdɛkəɹəs/
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Marked by behaviour, manners, etc., regarded as proper, tasteful, and in accordance with accepted standards; becoming, seemly.
- The narrovv path of truth and virtue inclines neither to the right nor left—it is a ſtraightforvvard buſineſs, and they vvho are earneſtly purſuing their road, may bound over many decorous prejudices, vvithout leaving modeſty behind.
- [S]ome grumbling voice, / Which now and then will make a slight inroad / Upon decorous silence, […]
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obsoleteAppropriate, suitable.
- [B]oth the truth vvhich the Prophecy aims at is faithfully conveyed, and that decorous embelliſhment in the external Cortex of the Prophecy punctually obſerved.
- And it is no vvonder this falling Star or Comet ſhould be looked upon as ſo miſchievous to Rivers and VVaters, vvhen Natural Hiſtory ſpeaks of falling Comets that have drunk up vvhole Rivers; ſo decorous is the repreſentation.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。