decorous

/ˈdɛkərəs/

Something that is decorous is dignified, proper, and in good taste, like your decorous great-aunt who always wears a dress — even when she's only headed to the grocery store.

The adjective decorous shares its origins with decoration. Both words come from the Latin word decor, meaning "beauty, elegance, charm, grace, ornament." So, something decorous is attractive. Decorous can also mean "dignified or proper," like your decorous habit of saying, "How do you do?" when you meet someone for the first time.

Definitions of decorous

1. adjective

   characterized by propriety and dignity and good taste in manners and conduct
   “the tete-a-tete was decorous in the extreme”

   synonyms:

   in good taste

   satisfying generally accepted social or esthetic standards

   sedate, staid

   characterized by dignity and propriety

   proper

   marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness

   antonyms:

   indecorous

   lacking propriety and good taste in manners and conduct

   indecent

   offensive to good taste especially in sexual matters

   improper

   not suitable or right or appropriate
2. adjective

   according with custom or propriety
   synonyms: becoming, comely, comme il faut, decent, seemly

   proper

   marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness