decorum
de·co·rum/dɪˈkɔːɹəm/noun
decorum is spelled D-E-C-O-R-U-M: 7 letters and 3 syllables (de·co·rum). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, decorum means “Appropriate social behavior” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of decorum is decora or decorums.
How many letters and syllables are in decorum?
| Letters | 7: D-E-C-O-R-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: de·co·rum |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is decorum?
Decorum appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce decorum?
- UK /dɪˈkɔːɹəm/
Decorum has 3 syllables, split de·co·rum in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-decorum.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of decorum
- decora plural
- decorums plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does decorum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Appropriate social behavior.
It was sort of a finishing school. You know, to teach proper social decorum and so on and so forth.
- 2
A convention of social behavior.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Decorum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense appropriate social behavior; propriety:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | décorum |
| German | Anstand, Etikette, Schicklichkeit, Anständigkeit, guter Ton, Dekorum |
| Portuguese | decoro |
| Spanish | decoro, pundonor |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does decorum come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin decōrum, neuter form of decōrus (“proper, decent”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).