do the decent thing
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Act with integrity and morality, especially in a difficult situation.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Đạo đức và liêm chính, đặc biệt trong tình huống khó khăn
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: perform a respectable action
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He decided to do the decent thing and return the money he found.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “do the decent thing” mean?
Act with integrity and morality, especially in a difficult situation. Literally: perform a respectable action
Is “do the decent thing” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.