Meanings
plural indecorums
- uncountableusuallyIndecorous behavior, or the state of being indecorous
This will be done decently and in good order--our training will admit of no indecorum.
1917, Douglas Fairbanks, Laugh and Live3 more examples
“But in this matter it is you who are to lead. You must set the example,—If others have blunder’d, it is your place to put them right, and shew them what true delicacy is.—In all points of decorum, your conduct must be law to the rest of the party.” This picture of her consequence had some effect, for no one loved better to lead than Maria;—and with far more good humour she answered, “I am much obliged to you, Edmund;—you mean very well, I am sure—but I still think you see things too strongly; and I really cannot undertake to harangue all the rest upon a subject of this kind.—There would be the greatest indecorum I think.”
1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 293I hope your eyes are better, but if you must spare them, there is nothing in my pages which a Lady may not read aloud without indecorum, which is more than can be said of Shakspeare.
1823, Charles Lamb, “Letter 305”, in The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb (Vol. 6)Not only were its central personages the patterns of propriety, but no breath of scandal, no shadow of indecorum, might approach its utmost boundaries.
1921, Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan act of undue intimacy
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinindecōrum
- Englishindecorum
From Latin indecōrum, neuter substantive of indecōrus.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
indecorum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indecorum
“indecorum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indecorum. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “indecorum,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indecorum.
Source: indecorum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.