different between decorous vs aesthetic

English

Etymology

From Latin dec?rus (“seemly, becoming”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?k???s/

Adjective

decorous (comparative more decorous, superlative most decorous)

1. Marked by proper behavior.
   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, chapter V, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 3rd edition, London: J. Jonson, published 1796, section III, pages 219–220:

     The narrow path of truth and virtue inclines neither to the right nor left—it is a ?traightforward bu?ine?s, and they who are earne?tly pur?uing their road, may bound over many decorous prejudices, without leaving mode?ty behind.

   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 61,^[1]

     There came a day when the round of decorous pleasures and solemn gaieties in which Mr. Jos Sedley’s family indulged was interrupted by an event which happens in most houses.

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 43

     But who can fathom the subtleties of the human heart? Certainly not those who expect from it only decorous sentiments and normal emotions.

   • 1936, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, Part One, Chapter 1^[2]

     The green eyes in the carefully sweet face were turbulent, willful, lusty with life, distinctly at variance with her decorous demeanor.

Antonyms

• indecorous

Related terms

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• æsthetic, esthetic

Etymology

From German Ästhetik or French esthétique, both from Ancient Greek ?????????? (aisth?tikós, “of sense perception”), from ?????????? (aisthánomai, “I feel”).

Pronunciation

• (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /es.??e.t?k/, /i?s.??e.t?k/
• (Contemporary RP) IPA^(key): /?s.???.t?k/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?s.??e.t?k/, /i?s.??e.t?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s.???.t?k/
• Rhymes: -?t?k

Adjective

aesthetic (comparative more aesthetic, superlative most aesthetic)

1. Concerned with beauty, artistic impact, or appearance.
2. (nonstandard) Beautiful or appealing to one's sense of beauty and/or art.
   • 1881, W. S. Gilbert, Patience, Act I:

     If you're anxious for to shine in the high aesthetic line as a man of culture rare,
     You must get up all the germs of the transcendental terms, and plant them everywhere.

   Synonyms: aesthetical, esthetic, tasteful

   Antonyms: inaesthetic, unaesthetic

Translations

Noun

aesthetic (plural aesthetics)

1. The study of art or beauty.
2. That which appeals to the senses.
3. The artistic motifs defining a collection of things, especially works of art; more broadly, their vibe.

Translations

Derived terms

Further reading

• "aesthetic" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 31.

Anagrams

• cheatiest