Jenny Daggers links feminist critiques and interreligious dialogue, arguing that our failure to treat people of other traditions with dignity matches in deed and rhetoric our inability to see that women are full and equal members of the community.—Francis X. Clooney, Commonweal, 11 Sept. 2009When King spoke about the racist past, he gloried in black people beating the odds to win equal rights by arming "ourselves with dignity and self-respect."—Juan Williams, Wall Street Journal, 4 Apr. 2008The period just after the Revolutionary War (1780-1820) was a time to project hard-won dignity, not show off. Federal interiors featured muted wall colors … and delicately carved or inlaid decoration.—Kelly Beamon, This Old House, March 2008Roger was beaming. His creased fat face literally shone with pleasure, which, for the sake of dignity, he struggled to contain.—Alice Adams, The Story and Its Writer, 1987Every speaker tries to create a love affair with his or her audience. But when the phenomenon called Maya Angelou takes the lectern at Pensacola (Florida) Junior College, she does not so much speak to the audience as "embrace" it. She sings, reads verse, thunders oratorically, even dances. Standing a majestic six feet tall and gifted with a resonant voice and … dignity, she is a poet, preacher, performer extraordinaire.—Cheryl McCall, People, 8 Mar. 1982
She showed dignity in defeat.
The ceremony was conducted with great dignity.
Theirs is a country that cherishes freedom and human dignity.
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Our communities should not have to rely on court orders to be treated with dignity.—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 19 July 2025 This religious minority known for its dignity, neutrality, resiliency, and peaceful resistance is now being targeted by Jihadi militias supported by the Syrian regime, with tanks artillery, and heavy weapons.—Sawsan Natour-Hasson, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 July 2025 Mexico) Terminally ill, eight women arrive at House Number 8 to be helped to die with dignity.—John Hopewell, Variety, 15 July 2025 The best leaders send people off with dignity and then stay to do the hard work of rebuilding with humanity.—Daisy Auger-Domínguez, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for dignity
Word History
Etymology
Middle English dignete, from Anglo-French digneté, from Latin dignitat-, dignitas, from dignus
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