Meanings
comparative more comme il faut · superlative most comme il faut
- Proper; in keeping with etiquette or social standards.
"Georgiana, put on your blue muslin, and ask Fanchette to make your hair a little comme-il-faut; and pray try to look well and cheerful; you were not up late, and ought to appear the better for it."
1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 2961 more example
2007: Talking during performances is perfectly comme il faut in Wharton – why else go to a show if not to talk to one’s friends? – so while Miss Shaw, up to her bosom in dirt, went on about existence, I asked my female companion for advice. — Deborah Friedell, ‘Short Cuts’, London Review of Books 29:5
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchcomme il faut
- Englishcomme il faut
Borrowed from French comme il faut (literally “as is necessary, as must be”).
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch fatsoenlijk, net
- fatsoenlijkproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
- netproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
Finnish asianmukainen
- asianmukainenproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
French comme il faut
- comme il fautproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
German wie es sich gehört
- wie es sich gehörtproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
Italian come si deve
- come si deveproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
Latin ut decet
- ut decetproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
Polish jak trzeba
- jak trzebaproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
Russian комильфо́
- комильфо́ (komilʹfó)proper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
Spanish como es debido
- como es debidoproper; respectable; in keeping with etiquette or social standards
Cite this entry
comme il faut. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comme%20il%20faut
“comme il faut.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comme%20il%20faut. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “comme il faut,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comme%20il%20faut.
Source: comme il faut on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.