(with a and plural) An act or requirement of polite behaviour; a decorous observance; chiefly in plural, proprieties.

plural. ? Proprieties; formalities. Obsolete.

plural. Decent or becoming acts or observances; the established observances of decent life or decorum; proprieties. (Rarely singular.)

the proprieties: the things that are considered proper; the details or rules of conventionally correct or proper conduct.

In plural. The elements or features of life or behaviour which are conventionally regarded as respectable. Cf. propriety, n. 7b.

the conventionalities: all that is conventionally regarded by society as fit and proper. (Cf. the proprieties at propriety, n. 7b.)