IMPROPRIETY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does impropriety mean? 

• IMPROPRIETY (noun)
  The noun IMPROPRIETY has 4 senses:

1. an improper demeanor

2. the condition of being improper

3. an indecent or improper act

4. an act of undue intimacy

  Familiarity information: IMPROPRIETY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPROPRIETY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An improper demeanor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

improperness; impropriety

Hypernyms ("impropriety" is a kind of...):

behavior; behaviour; conduct; demeanor; demeanour; deportment ((behavioral attributes) the way a person behaves toward other people)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impropriety"):

incorrectness (lack of conformity to social expectations)

inappropriateness; wrongness (inappropriate conduct)

indelicacy (the trait of being indelicate and offensive)

indecorousness; indecorum (a lack of decorum)

indecency (the quality of being indecent)

Antonym:

propriety (correct or appropriate behavior)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The condition of being improper

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("impropriety" is a kind of...):

condition; status (a state at a particular time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An indecent or improper act

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

impropriety; indecency

Hypernyms ("impropriety" is a kind of...):

misbehavior; misbehaviour; misdeed (improper or wicked or immoral behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impropriety"):

obscenity (an obscene act)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An act of undue intimacy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

familiarity; impropriety; indecorum; liberty

Hypernyms ("impropriety" is a kind of...):

misbehavior; misbehaviour; misdeed (improper or wicked or immoral behavior)

 Context examples 

Impropriety! Oh! Mrs. Weston—it is too calm a censure.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Do not you think, said Fanny, after a little consideration, that this impropriety is a reflection itself upon Mrs. Crawford, as her niece has been entirely brought up by her?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

This was the sum of my speech, delivered with great improprieties and hesitation.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I should hold myself guilty of greater impropriety in accepting a horse from my brother, than from Willoughby.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Elizabeth, however, had never been blind to the impropriety of her father's behaviour as a husband.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Perhaps I had too rashly over-leaped conventionalities; and he, like St. John, saw impropriety in my inconsiderateness.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Neatness and fashion are enough for the former, and a something of shabbiness or impropriety will be most endearing to the latter.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

“On the voyage, I shall endeavour,” said Mr. Micawber, “occasionally to spin them a yarn; and the melody of my son Wilkins will, I trust, be acceptable at the galley-fire. When Mrs. Micawber has her sea-legs on—an expression in which I hope there is no conventional impropriety—she will give them, I dare say, “Little Tafflin”.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The present crisis, indeed, seemed to be brought on by them; and those misunderstandings might very possibly arise from the impropriety of his conduct.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It was the abode of noise, disorder, and impropriety.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)