comportment

/kəmˈpɔrtmənt/

Other forms: comportments

Your comportment is the way you act, especially when you behave well. You might compliment a patient little boy on his comportment as he waits in line for a turn on the swings.

You can use the noun comportment to describe both the way a person behaves and also the way he carries himself — his general manner. A queen's comportment is usually regal, a bit stiff, and dignified. The comportment of a bunch of little kids at an amusement park is very different. The Middle French root is comportement, "bearing or behavior," from the Latin comportare, "to bring together or collect."

Definitions of comportment

1. noun

   dignified manner or conduct
   synonyms: bearing, mien, presence

   types:

   dignity, gravitas, lordliness

   formality in bearing and appearance

   type of:

   manner, personal manner

   a way of acting or behaving