propriety
pruh-PRY-ih-teenounMeaning correct, proper behavior
Memory hook PROPER-iety: doing what is PROPER. At the fancy dinner, Ivy keeps her napkin on her lap, her elbows off the table and her “thank you” ready. She shows perfect propriety.
Out of propriety, the guests waited for the host to sit before they began eating.
In context Grandmother valued propriety above all: thank-you notes within a week, no hats at the table and never a raised voice in company.
Similar correctness, decency, good manners, etiquette
Opposite impropriety, rudeness
From Latin proprietas, “ownership, fitness,” from proprius (one’s own); the sense “proper behavior” came later.