Upright
adj.thoughtful, resilientformal
What it means
Honest, responsible, and guided by sound moral principles.
Reach for it when making a serious character judgment grounded in conduct
The upright official disclosed the private favor and refused it.
Choose between these
6- playful
when informal praise for rule-following fits
not when The label can imply rigidity or naivety.
- everyday
when truth-telling is the precise virtue
not when Honesty alone does not cover duty or fairness.
- professional
when conduct follows defensible standards
not when Ethical is less personal and may concern one decision.
- professional
when stable standards guide choices
not when Principled can describe rigid adherence to a bad principle.
- formal
when integrity and duty deserve dignity
not when Honorable can be status-laden.
- literary
when broad moral goodness is intended
not when Virtuous sounds moralizing and stronger.
Said against
3- corrupt
- dishonest
- unprincipled
It naturally appears in
3- upright citizen
The novel's upright citizen admits the rule he once enforced was unfair.
- upright conduct
Upright conduct continues when public praise disappears.
- morally upright
Calling someone morally upright requires more than one generous gesture.
The word family
1Where this comes from
- Wiktionary, English adjective figurative sense: honest and morally honorable opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26
The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.