From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdecentde‧cent /ˈdiːsənt/ ●●○ S3 adjective 1 GOOD ENOUGH[usually before noun] of a good enough standard or quality a decent salary Don’t you have a decent jacket? a house with a decent-sized yard Their in-flight magazine is halfway decent (=quite good).► see thesaurus at satisfactory2 following moral standards that are acceptable to society → decencydecent citizens/people/folk etc The majority of residents here are decent citizens. a decent burial Paul visited the local bars more frequently than was decent for a senior lecturer. The chairman did the decent thing (=did what people thought he ought to) and resigned.3 GOOD/MORAL[usually before noun] treating people in a fair and kind way I decided her father was a decent guy after all. It was decent of you to show up today.4 WEAR CLOTHESwearing enough clothes so that you do not show too much of your body – used humorously Are you decent? Can I come in? —decently adverb
Examples from the Corpus
decent• Don't come in - I'm not decent!• And it took you all your time to get them decent again with a wet rag.• He was wearing a decent black cloth lounge suit, and had no intentions of changing his mode of attire.• Come to think of it, he'd seemed rather a decent chap, some one it might be worth getting to know.• Decent citizens have nothing to fear from the police.• I want to provide my boys with a decent education.• Perhaps Jack wanted to do something decent, for a change.• The coach was a pretty decent guy.• a decent, honest, hard-working woman• Carr and the Celtics have done a decent job the past 48 hours, maximizing the suspense surrounding their new lineup.• Decent members of the public will be outraged by this decision.• I need to get a decent night's sleep.• It's very decent of you to be so pleased for me -- I know how much you wanted to win this competition.• You would think that with all the money I make, I could at least have a decent place to sleep.• There isn't one decent restaurant around here.• Did you get decent seats for the game?• The Trojans brought the ball up but could not get off a decent shot.• For expatriates with offshore accounts, this represents a decent tax-free return on an investment that carries no risk to capital.• He is 25-10-2 in three seasons, with what many would call decent wins, if not big ones.• Decent working people are frustrated at the level of crime in the cities.halfway decent• Discs viable, a second halfway decent act was required.• And you need to be halfway decent and honest and real.• This is really halfway decent coffee.• Reading about that stuff, downing really halfway decent coffee.decent citizens/people/folk etc• He comes when nobody's lookin' and poisons decent people.• You ain't fit to live with decent people.• There's two methods of policing, one for the decent people and one for the trouble-makers.• I had seen otherwise perfectly decent people in Delhi abusing their servants as if they were pets.• Evidently, there are some very decent people out there.• But most contractors are decent people who like working with their hands, working for themselves.• Most of them were decent people with horrible jobs.It was decent of• She was lonely, and it was decent of the Nawab to have called on her.Origin decent (1500-1600) French décent, from Latin decens, the present participle of decere “to be suitable” 