Meaning & use
public decency
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
the accepted standards of behavior that people are expected to follow in public places, especially regarding sexual conduct and exposure
Grammar: No plural and no article: say 'an offence against public decency', not 'a public decency'.
Patterns
- an offence against public decency
- standards of public decency
- outrage public decency
The court ruled that his behavior had outraged public decency.
Laws on public decency vary widely from country to country.
She was charged with an offence against public decency after the incident in the park.
Common combinations
- outrage public decency
- The performance was said to outrage public decency.
- standards of public decency
- The newspaper claimed that standards of public decency were falling.
- offence against public decency
- He was arrested for an offence against public decency.
- laws on public decency
- The city tightened its laws on public decency last year.
Synonyms and how they differ
- public morality
- Broader and more abstract; it covers moral principles in general, while public decency focuses on behavior in shared spaces.
- propriety
- More formal and general, referring to correct social behavior in any setting, not just public places.
Word family
Commonly confused: public decency or public decency laws?
public decency vs public decency laws
This is not a separate term; it simply refers to laws that enforce public decency, so use 'laws on public decency' or 'public decency laws' only as a compound noun phrase.
Practice
The judge said the film was an offence against ______.
Choose one answer.
'Public decency' is uncountable, so it takes no article and no plural. 'A public decency' and 'public decencies' wrongly treat it as countable, and 'the public decency' adds a definite article that is not used in this fixed phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “public decency”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.