decent meaning and examples

2025-09-05

Meaning

  • Decent means acceptable, good enough, proper, or respectable in quality, behavior, or appearance.
  • It can also mean fair, kind, or morally correct.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: adjective

  • Used to describe people, actions, behavior, or quality.

  • Common sentence structures:

    • "a decent + noun" → a decent job, a decent meal
    • "be decent to + person" → She was decent to everyone.
    • "It’s only decent to..." → expressing what is proper or polite.

Common Phrases

  • decent job – a reasonably good job
  • decent living – earning enough money to live comfortably
  • decent meal – a good or satisfying meal
  • decent person – a respectable and fair person
  • decent clothes – appropriate or respectable clothing

Collocations

  • verb + decent: look decent, seem decent, become decent
  • adverb + decent: quite decent, fairly decent, reasonably decent
  • noun + decent: decent salary, decent standard, decent chance

Examples

  1. She found a decent apartment near her workplace.
  2. He earns a decent salary that supports his family.
  3. Please wear something decent to the ceremony.
  4. That was a decent meal, thank you!
  5. He’s a decent man who always helps his neighbors.
  6. It’s only decent to thank her for her kindness.
  7. After a long flight, I just wanted a decent rest.
  8. They live a decent life in the countryside.
  • respectable
  • proper
  • acceptable
  • suitable
  • fair
  • honest
  • kind