Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Showing or marked by proper respect.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Marked or characterized by respect; showing respect: as, respectful deportment.
  • Full of outward or formal civility; ceremonious.
  • Worthy of respect; receiving respect.
  • Synonyms Civil, dutiful, courteous, complaisant, deferential, polite.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Marked or characterized by respect.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Marked or characterized by respect; as, respectful deportment.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective feeling or manifesting veneration
  • adjective full of or exhibiting respect

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

respect +‎ -ful

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Examples

  • To this is added a severe rebuke of those who, by what they term respectful silence, pretend to obey the Apostolic

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 15: Tournely-Zwirner 1840-1916 1913

  • DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you remember, Wolf, right after John McCain effectively clinched the Republican nomination, he said that he wanted all Republicans to run what he calls a respectful campaign.

    CNN Transcript Apr 23, 2008 2008

  • But Lou it really is a fine line for McCain because he has set the bar so high for himself when it comes to running what he called a respectful campaign -- Lou.

    CNN Transcript Apr 23, 2008 2008

  • The Republic Party is organizing what it calls a respectful opposition rally.

    KVUE - Home 2010

  • On the day Obama visits, the party is organizing what it calls a respectful opposition rally in Austin.

    chron.com Chronicle 2010

  • And one was, one -- a woman saying some things about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, saying, you know, some pretty negative things about them, and actually tried to hand John McCain a doll of Hillary Clinton which he kind of gave to an aide and said -- made the point of saying that it's all fine to have some humor, but wanted to really make the point, as he does many, many times, that he intends to have what he calls a respectful campaign in the fall.

    CNN Transcript Mar 14, 2008 2008

  • As the party was looking on, a Laughing Jackass [kookaburra] sat gazing down in respectful silence, with no desire to show disloyalty by breaking out into a premier chuckle at the rather amusing scene.

    Archive 2009-03-01 2009

  • The thing about demanding that our children are always respectful is that we are sending the message that we expect, and believe they are capable of self control, of checking their behavior, of moderating their tone of voice and actions.

    Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Monsters | Her Bad Mother 2009

  • The simplest and most respectful is to do "Namaste" as the Hindus do.

    The Virtual Handshake, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • But if you'd rather accuse me of lying than engage in respectful and intelligent discussion, that's fine.

    Ask Professor Foxy: Does My Size and Not Flirting Keep Me Alone? - Feministing 2009

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