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/ˌɪmprəprˈaɪəti/ Listen

noun

Impropriety n. (pl. improprieties)

The quality of being improper; unfitness or unsuitableness to character, time place, or circumstances; as, impropriety of behavior or manners.

That which is improper; an unsuitable or improper act, or an inaccurate use of language. "But every language has likewise its improprieties and absurdities." "Many gross improprieties, however authorized by practice, ought to be discarded."

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Etymology of 'Impropriety'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Impropriety" Quotes from Famous Books

... boundary." That is not true, in fact. Texas has claimed it, but she has not always claimed it. There is at least one distinguished exception. Her State constitution the republic's most solemn and well-considered act, that which may, without impropriety, be called her last will and testament, revoking all others-makes no such claim. But suppose she had always claimed it. Has not Mexico always claimed the contrary? So that there is but claim against claim, leaving nothing proved until we get back of the claims and find which has ...

— The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Complete - Constitutional Edition • Abraham Lincoln

... idiotic) until their minds were diluted to that degree that they could not act upon anything that offered the least resistance. Beginning with the pepsinized books, they must continue with them, and the dull appetite by-and-by must be stimulated with a spice of vulgarity or a little pepper of impropriety. And fortunately for their nourishment in this kind, the dullest ...

— Baddeck and That Sort of Thing • Charles Dudley Warner

... seem so natural; nor do we imagine that the impropriety of the simile would necessarily have debarred Thorpe ...

— Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters - A Family Record • William Austen-Leigh and Richard Arthur Austen-Leigh

... imagine," said I, "how you will put aside the authority of Moses. If Moses strove against image-worship, should not his doing so be conclusive as to the impropriety of the practice; what higher authority can you have than that ...

— Isopel Berners - The History of certain doings in a Staffordshire Dingle, July, 1825 • George Borrow

... was, in a few minutes, recalled by the stranger, who returned with the empty cup in his hand. I had not thought of the circumstance, or should certainly have chosen a different seat. He no sooner shewed himself, than a confused sense of impropriety, added to the suddenness of the interview, for which, not having foreseen it, I had made no preparation, threw me into a state of the most painful embarrassment. He brought with him a placid brow; but no sooner had he cast his eyes ...

— Wieland; or The Transformation - An American Tale • Charles Brockden Brown

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