The phrase "a perception of impropriety" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing someone's belief or feeling that something is inappropriate or unethical.
Example: "The committee's decision was influenced by a perception of impropriety surrounding the candidate's past actions."
Alternatives: "a sense of wrongdoing" or "an impression of misconduct."
"Now they're saying, 'You're exactly like Enron.' There's a perception of impropriety with every company in the energy sector.
Mayor Rudy Clay, an Obama supporter, from Gary, in the north-west of Indiana, one of the last places to announce its results, denied there had been any "hanky-panky," but mayor Tom McDermott of Hammond, a Clinton supporter, said there had been "a perception of impropriety".
It's known here as the Pence rule after Vice-President Mike Pence, who said he doesn't ever meet alone or have dinner alone with female colleagues in order to avoid any perception of impropriety.
But neither issue will receive a fair hearing in the paper of record if an avoidable perception of impropriety hardens into a bedrock belief.
One Florida county judge, Nina Ashenafi Richardson of Tallahassee, said the rule was "probably a good idea, just to avoid any perceptions of impropriety".
Avoiding the perception of impropriety in the administration of justice is a compelling state goal, he writes, and banning personal solicitation by judicial candidates is a narrowly tailored strategy for advancing it.
After it was disclosed that Mr. Rogers had signed a two-year $600,000 contract with the sheik, Mr. Bush expressed concern about "the perception of impropriety". Mr. Rogers subsequently withdrew from his contract.
His supporters love it, but his indifference to the traditional rules of politics — where the perception of impropriety is as important as actual impropriety — has left millions slack-jawed.
And the perception of impropriety can only have been enhanced with the knowledge that, as soon as full time was called at the Royal Courts of Justice, they flew off together to the Greek island of Santorini, where, among the whitewashed villas and the olive groves, the lovestruck legal eagles "discussed the possibility of a future relationship".
