dignified, ppl. a.
(ˈdɪgnɪfaɪd)
[f. dignify + -ed1.]
1. Invested with dignity; exalted.
| 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. vi. 100 We shall see the Bard's Character rising again in its dignified State. 1781 Cowper Charity 2 Fairest and foremost of the train that wait On man's most dignified and happiest state. |
† 2. Holding a position of dignity; ranking as a dignitary (esp. ecclesiastical). Obs.
| 1667–8 Marvell Corr. xc. Wks. 1872–5 II. 240 It hath bin..mov'd to raise 100,000li...upon the dignifyd Clergy. 1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 396 To the Cathedral belong..five dignify'd Priests, being the Dean, Arch-Deacon, School-Master, Chanter, and Treasurer. 1726 Ayliffe Parergon 6 Abbots are stiled dignify'd Clerks, as having some Dignity in the Church. 1860 Mrs. Gaskell Right at Last 30 My father was the son of a dignified clergyman. |
3. Marked by dignity of manner, style, or appearance; characterized by lofty self-respect without haughtiness; stately, noble, majestic.
| a 1812 J. S. Buckminster (Webster, 1828) To the great astonishment of the Jews, the manners of Jesus are familiar, yet dignified. 1840 Carlyle Heroes v. (1891) 147 A Pulpit, environed with all manner of complex dignified appurtenances and furtherances. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. ii. xiii. 299 The general character of the oratory was dignified and graceful. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 447 His State papers..are models of terse, luminous, and dignified eloquence. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. viii. 291 A man of dignified appearance. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 262 Silence, mournful..but dignified, was observed in the public streets. |