dignity
Other forms: dignities
If someone has dignity, it means they are worthy of respect. If you really want the lead role in a play and you try to bribe the director to give it to you, she might say, “Have you no dignity?”
Someone with dignity carries herself well. If you lose an election, and you say nasty things about your opponent and try to undermine her, you are acting without dignity. But if you graciously congratulate her and accept the results, then you are behaving in a dignified manner. We also talk about human dignity, which is an idea of what separates humans from animals. Human Rights activists believe that everyone has the right to live with dignity.
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the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect“it was beneath his dignity to cheat”“showed his true dignity when under pressure”synonyms: self-regard, self-respect, self-worth
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formality in bearing and appearance
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high office or rank or station
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Vocabulary lists containing dignity
On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Speaking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., King stood before an estimated quarter of a million people who had gathered to demonstrate for passage of the Civil Rights Act.
In the first book of Jeff Kinney's popular series, Greg Heffley deals with the trials and tribulations of middle school.
The full title of this declaration includes a focus on citizenship, and it was published two years after the declaration of rights for men and immediately after the National Assembly of France rejected a proposal to extend the rights to women. With an ironic tone, the writer and activist Olympe de Gouges dedicated it to Marie Antoinette, who -- as a woman -- was not seen as an equal. And, as a queen, she did nothing to promote gender equality (yet she was eventually given a trial and death sentence equal to that of King Louis XVI). While a postscript and form for a social contract are also included, the main structure and contents of this declaration parallel and parody its male counterpart. Compare these lists to hear the echoes. E-text available here. Here are links to our lists on rights: The Declaration of Independence, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Declaration of the Rights of Woman, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights