What is the difference between right and proper?
right | proper | Synonyms |
(archaic) Straight, not bent.
Of an angle, having a size of 90 degrees, or one quarter of a complete rotation; the angle between two perpendicular lines.
Complying with justice, correctness or reason; correct, just, true.
* (John Locke)
* Bishop Joseph Hall
Appropriate, perfectly suitable; fit for purpose.
Healthy, sane, competent.
Real; veritable.
* Milton
(Australia) All right; not requiring assistance.
* 1986 David Williamson, "What If You Died Tomorrow," Collected plays , Volume 1, Currency Press, p310
* 2001 Catherine Menagé, Access to English, National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, NSW: Sydney, p25
* 2001 Morris Gleitzman, Two weeks with the Queen, Pan Macmillan Australia, p75
(dated) Most favourable or convenient; fortunate.
* Spectator
Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north. This arrow points to the right: ?
Designed to be placed or worn outward.
(politics) Pertaining to the political right; conservative.
On the right side.
Towards the right side.
Yes, that is correct; I agree.
I agree with whatever you say; I have no opinion.
(non-gloss definition).
(Used to check agreement at the end of an utterance).
* 1987 , :
That which complies with justice, law or reason.
A legal or moral entitlement.
* (Samuel Taylor Coleridge) (1772-1834)
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title=
, passage=Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house?; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something?; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.}}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Schumpeter
, title= The right side or direction.
(politics) The ensemble of right-wing political parties; political conservatives as a group.
The outward or most finished surface, as of a piece of cloth, a carpet, etc.
To correct.
To set upright.
To return to normal upright position.
To do justice to; to relieve from wrong; to restore rights to; to assert or regain the rights of.
* Shakespeare
* Jefferson
Exactly, precisely.
*
, title= Very, extremely, quite.
*
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* (rfdate) Ann Hite, Ghost on Black Mountain ,
According to fact or truth; actually; truly; really.
In a correct manner.
To a great extent or degree.
*, chapter=13
, title= (lb) Suitable.
#Suited or acceptable to the purpose or circumstances; fit, suitable.
#:
#*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
#*:The proper study of mankind is man.
#*{{quote-magazine, date=2014-06-14, volume=411, issue=8891, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= #Following the established standards of behavior or manners; correct or decorous.
#:
#*
#*:This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking.Indeed, all his features were in large mold, like the man himself, as though he had come from a day when skin garments made the proper garb of men.
(lb) Possessed, related.
#(lb) Used to designate a particular person, place, or thing. Proper words are usually written with an initial capital letter.
#Pertaining exclusively to a specific thing or person; particular.
#*, II.1.3:
#*:They have a proper saint almost for every peculiar infirmity: for poison, gouts, agues.
#*(Samuel Taylor Coleridge) (1772-1834)
#*:those high and peculiar attributeswhich constitute our proper humanity
#(lb) Belonging to oneself or itself; own.
#*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
#*:my proper son
#*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
#*:Now learn the difference, at your proper cost, / Betwixt true valour and an empty boast.
#*, II.4.1.ii:
#*:every country, and more than that, every private place, hath his proper remedies growing in it, particular almost to the domineering and most frequent maladies of it.
#*1946 , (Bertrand Russell), (A History of Western Philosophy) , I.20:
#*:Each animal has its proper' pleasure, and the ' proper pleasure of man is connected with reason.
#(lb) Portrayed in natural or usual coloration, as opposed to conventional tinctures.
#
(lb) Accurate, strictly applied.
#Excellent, of high quality; such as the specific person or thing should ideally be. (Now often merged with later senses.)
#:
#
#*1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , (w) VII:
#*:The same tyme was Moses borne, and was a propper childe in the sight of God, which was norisshed up in his fathers housse thre monethes.
#In the very strictest sense of the word (now often as postmodifier).
#*, Episode 16:
#*:Though unusual in the Dublin area he knew that it was not by any means unknown for desperadoes who had next to nothing to live on to be abroad waylaying and generally terrorising peaceable pedestrians by placing a pistol at their head in some secluded spot outside the city proper .
#
#:
(Scotland) properly; thoroughly; completely
* 1964 , Saint Andrew Society (Glasgow, Scotland), The Scots magazine: Volume 82
(nonstandard, slang) properly
* 2012 , (Soufside), Hello (song)
Proper is a synonym of right.
In archaic terms the difference between right and proper
is that right is straight, not bent while proper is belonging to oneself or itself; own.As an interjection right
is yes, that is correct; I agree.As a noun right
is that which complies with justice, law or reason.As a verb right
is to correct.right
English
(re-split by etym)Alternative forms
* (informal)Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Adjective
(er)- a right line
- The kitchen counter formed a right angle with the back wall.
- I thought you'd made a mistake, but it seems you were right all along.
- It's not right that one person gets all the credit for the group's work.
- If there be no prospect beyond the grave, the inference is right , "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."
- there are some dispositions blame-worthy in men, which are yet, in a right sense, holily ascribed unto God; as unchangeableness, and irrepentance.
- Is this the right software for my computer?
- I'm afraid my father is no longer in his right mind.
- You've made a right mess of the kitchen!
- In this battle, the Britons never more plainly manifested themselves to be right barbarians.
- KIRSTY: I suppose you're hungry. Would you like something to eat? / KEN: No. I'm right , thanks.
- When the sales assistant sees the customer, she asks Are you right , sir?'' This means ''Are you all right? She wants to know if he needs any help.
- 'You lost?' / Colin spun round. Looking at him was a nurse, her eyebrows raised. / 'No, I'm right , thanks,' said Colin.'
- The lady has been disappointed on the right side.
- After the accident, her right leg was slighly shorter than her left.
- the right side of a piece of cloth
Synonyms
* (correctness) correct, just * dexter, dextral, right-hand * (politics) conservative, right-wing * (as a tag question) seeAntonyms
* (straightness) bowed, crooked, curved * (correctness) wrong * leftDerived terms
* a broken clock is right twice a day * alright, all right * do right by * in one's right mind * it's all right * right angle * right as a trivet * right as rain * right away * rightdom * righteous * right hand * right handed, right-handed * right-hand man * righthood * rightly * right-minded * rightness * right off * right off the bat * right of way * Right Reverend * right triangle * she'll be rightAdverb
(-)Interjection
(en interjection)- - After that interview, I don't think we should hire her.
- Right — who wants lunch?
- You're going, right ?
- Withnail: Right ... I'm gonna do the washing up.
Derived terms
* yeah rightNoun
(wikipedia right) (en noun)- There are no rights whatever, without corresponding duties.
“Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=3/19/2
Cronies and capitols, passage=Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.}}
Synonyms
* (right side) starboard,Antonyms
* (legal or moral entitlement) duty, obligationDerived terms
* bragging rights * human rights * Miranda rights * rightful * right of first refusal * shop right * to the right * two wrongs don't make a right * two wrongs make a rightEtymology 2
(etyl) , from riht, from the same ultimate source as Etymology 1, above.Verb
(en verb)- Righting all the wrongs of the war will be impossible.
- The tow-truck righted what was left of the automobile.
- When the wind died down, the ship righted .
- to right the oppressed
- So just is God, to right the innocent.
- All experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
Derived terms
* (l) * (l) * (l) * (l)Adverb
(-)Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.}}
- The fog was right hard to see through so I was on Tom Pritchard before I saw him.
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=He b'iled right over, and the tongue-lashing he give that boss Right Liver beat anything I ever listened to. There was heap of Scriptur' language in it, and more brimstone than you'd find in a match factory.}}
Usage notes
In the US, the word "right" is used as an adverb meaning "very, quite" in most of the major dialect areas, including the Southern US, Appalachia, New England and the Midwest, though the usage is not part of standard US English.Quotations
* (English Citations of "right")Synonyms
* exactly, just, precisely, smack dabDerived terms
* right smartStatistics
*proper
English
(wikipedia proper)Alternative forms
* propre (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)It's a gas, passage=One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.}}
Synonyms
* correct, right, apt, prudent, sensible, fitting * appropriate, decent, good, polite, right, well-mannered * appropriate, just, honorable * comprehensive, royal, sweeping, intensive * (true) full, complete * complete, right (informal), total, utterAntonyms
* incorrect, wrong, bad, imprudent, insensible * inappropriate, indecent, bad, impolite, wrong, ill-mannered, unseemly * inappropriate, unjust, dishonorable * partial, incomplete, superficial, slapdash * (true) incompleteSee also
* proper adjective * proper fraction * proper nounAdverb
(-)- Don't you think you must have looked proper daft?
- When I meet a bad chick, know I gotta tell her hello
- talk real proper , but she straight up out the ghetto