'Proper' definitions:
Definition of 'proper'
From: WordNet
adjective
Marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness; "proper medical treatment"; "proper manners" [ant: improper]
adjective
Having all the qualities typical of the thing specified; "wanted a proper dinner; not just a snack"; "he finally has a proper job"
adjective
Limited to the thing specified; "the city proper"; "his claim is connected with the deed proper"
adjective
Appropriate for a condition or purpose or occasion or a person's character, needs; "everything in its proper place"; "the right man for the job"; "she is not suitable for the position" [syn: proper, right]
Definition of 'Proper'
From: GCIDE
- Proper \Prop"er\, adv. Properly; hence, to a great degree; very; as, proper good. [Colloq & Vulgar] [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Proper'
From: GCIDE
- Proper \Prop"er\, a. [OE. propre, F. propre, fr. L. proprius. Cf. Appropriate.] [1913 Webster]
- 1. Belonging to one; one's own; individual. "His proper good" [i. e., his own possessions]. --Chaucer. "My proper son." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Now learn the difference, at your proper cost, Betwixt true valor and an empty boast. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Belonging to the natural or essential constitution; peculiar; not common; particular; as, every animal has his proper instincts and appetites. [1913 Webster]
- Those high and peculiar attributes . . . which constitute our proper humanity. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Befitting one's nature, qualities, etc.; suitable in all respect; appropriate; right; fit; decent; as, water is the proper element for fish; a proper dress. [1913 Webster]
- The proper study of mankind is man. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- In Athens all was pleasure, mirth, and play, All proper to the spring, and sprightly May. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Becoming in appearance; well formed; handsome. [Archaic] "Thou art a proper man." --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- Moses . . . was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child. --Heb. xi. 23. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the whole; not appellative; -- opposed to common; as, a proper name; Dublin is the proper name of a city. [1913 Webster]
- 6. Rightly so called; strictly considered; as, Greece proper; the garden proper. [1913 Webster]
- 7. (Her.) Represented in its natural color; -- said of any object used as a charge. [1913 Webster]
- In proper, individually; privately. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.
- Proper flower or Proper corolla (Bot.), one of the single florets, or corollets, in an aggregate or compound flower.
- Proper fraction (Arith.) a fraction in which the numerator is less than the denominator.
- Proper nectary (Bot.), a nectary separate from the petals and other parts of the flower. -- Proper noun (Gram.), a name belonging to an individual, by which it is distinguished from others of the same class; -- opposed to common noun; as, John, Boston, America.
- Proper perianth or Proper involucre (Bot.), that which incloses only a single flower.
- Proper receptacle (Bot.), a receptacle which supports only a single flower or fructification. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'proper'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- absolute,
- accepted,
- accommodated to,
- according to,
- according to Hoyle,
- accurate,
- acknowledged,
- adapted,
- adapted to,
- adjusted to,
- admitted,
- advantageous,
- advisable,
- after,
- agreeable to,
- agreeably to,
- all right,
- alone,
- answerable to,
- applicable,
- apposite,
- appropriate,
- approved,
- apropos,
- apt,
- arrant,
- au fait,
- authentic,
- authoritative,
- balanced,
- banausic,
- becoming,
- befitting,
- being done,
- beneficial,
- blamed,
- by,
- canonical,
- capable,
- characteristic,
- Christian,
- civil,
- classical,
- comely,
- comme il faut,
- commodious,
- competent,
- complete,
- condign,
- conformable,
- conformable to,
- conforming,
- conformist,
- confounded,
- congruent with,
- congruous,
- consistent with,
- consummate,
- convenient,
- conventional,
- correct,
- crashing,
- crass,
- customary,
- de rigueur,
- dead right,
- decent,
- decided,
- decorous,
- defensible,
- definitive,
- delicate,
- deserved,
- desirable,
- desired,
- diagnostic,
- dignified,
- distinct,
- distinctive,
- distinguished,
- downright,
- due,
- egregious,
- elegant,
- employable,
- equitable,
- established,
- evangelical,
- even,
- evenhanded,
- exact,
- expected,
- expedient,
- fair,
- fair and square,
- faithful,
- faultless,
- favorable,
- feasible,
- felicitous,
- firm,
- fit,
- fitten,
- fitting,
- flagrant,
- flawless,
- formal,
- fructuous,
- functional,
- genteel,
- gentlemanly,
- glaring,
- good,
- good for,
- gross,
- happy,
- helpful,
- idiocratic,
- idiosyncratic,
- in accordance with,
- in agreement with,
- in character,
- in compliance with,
- in conformity with,
- in correspondence to,
- in harmony with,
- in keeping with,
- in line with,
- in lock-step with,
- in obedience to,
- in step with,
- in uniformity with,
- individual,
- infernal,
- inspired,
- intolerable,
- intrinsic,
- just,
- just right,
- justifiable,
- justified,
- kosher,
- ladylike,
- lawful,
- legal,
- letter-perfect,
- level,
- likely,
- literal,
- marked,
- meet,
- meet and right,
- merited,
- meticulous,
- modest,
- nice,
- normal,
- normative,
- of general utility,
- of help,
- of service,
- of the faith,
- of use,
- OK,
- okay,
- only,
- opportune,
- orthodox,
- orthodoxical,
- out-and-out,
- outright,
- own,
- particular,
- peculiar,
- per,
- perfect,
- polite,
- politic,
- positive,
- practical,
- pragmatical,
- precious,
- precise,
- prig,
- priggish,
- prissy,
- profitable,
- profound,
- pronounced,
- proper to,
- prudish,
- punctilious,
- puritanical,
- qualified,
- quintessential,
- rank,
- received,
- recognized,
- recommendable,
- refined,
- regular,
- respectable,
- respective,
- right,
- right and proper,
- righteous,
- rightful,
- rigorous,
- satisfactory,
- scriptural,
- seasonable,
- seemly,
- sensible,
- separate,
- serviceable,
- shattering,
- shocking,
- single,
- singular,
- solely,
- sortable,
- sound,
- special,
- specific,
- square,
- standard,
- stark,
- stark-staring,
- straight,
- straight-up-and-down,
- straitlaced,
- strictly speaking,
- stuffy,
- suitable,
- suitable for,
- suited,
- superlative,
- surpassing,
- textual,
- the veriest,
- thorough,
- thoroughgoing,
- timely,
- to be desired,
- total,
- traditional,
- traditionalistic,
- true,
- true to form,
- true-blue,
- unbearable,
- unconscionable,
- undeniable,
- unequivocal,
- uniform with,
- unique,
- unmitigated,
- unqualified,
- unrelieved,
- unspoiled,
- urbane,
- useful,
- usual,
- utilitarian,
- utter,
- warrantable,
- warranted,
- well-chosen,
- well-expressed,
- well-put,
- well-timed,
- wicked,
- wise,
- worthwhile