respectably

To do something respectably is to act in a proper, presentable, or acceptable way. If your dad asks you to dress respectably for a family wedding, he probably wants you to wear formal, tidy clothes.

Sometimes respectably means "decently," or "politely," as when a teacher says, "Stop tap dancing on my desk! We behave respectably in this classroom." Other times, it means something more like "not bad," as when a business owner says, "Our sales team did respectably this quarter." At the root of this adverb is the Latin respectus, "regard," or "act of looking back at one."

Definitions of respectably

1. adverb

   in a decent and morally reputable manner
   “the film ends with the middle-aged romancers respectably married”
2. adverb

   to a tolerably worthy extent
   “he did respectably well for his age”

   synonyms: creditably