Virtuous
What it means
Consistently guided by morally good principles.
Reach for it when making a serious judgment about ethical character or conduct
The novel's virtuous mayor refuses the bribe but also admits the policy that enabled it.
Words to choose between 8
| playful | |
|---|---|
| everyday | |
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
-
playful
saintly
Fits when extraordinary patience or goodness is praised with affectionate exaggeration
Careful Saintly is religious and hyperbolic, so it can make ordinary decency sound unreal.
-
everyday
Fits when simple moral approval will sound most sincere
Careful Good is too broad to explain what makes the conduct admirable.
-
professional
Fits when conduct follows defensible standards in work or public life
Careful Ethical is less personal and may refer to a rule-compliant choice rather than overall character.
-
professional
Fits when stable standards guide difficult choices
Careful Principled can also describe rigid adherence to a questionable principle.
-
formal
Fits when integrity, fairness, and keeping one's word are central
Careful Honorable stresses reputation and duty more than compassion.
-
formal
Fits when right and wrong are being judged directly
Careful Moral can be neutral, as in a moral question, and may sound preachy as personal praise.
-
literary
Fits when moral rightness carries religious or emphatic force
Careful Righteous often sounds self-satisfied or sectarian in secular praise.
-
literary
Fits when honesty and respectable character deserve traditional praise
Careful Upright is old-fashioned and narrower than the full range of virtues.
Opposites 3
- corrupt
- immoral
- unprincipled
Common phrases 3
-
virtuous person
The story lets a virtuous person make a costly mistake without excusing it.
-
virtuous conduct
Virtuous conduct becomes credible when it continues without applause.
-
seem virtuous
A public promise may seem virtuous while shifting the burden onto unseen workers.
Word family 1
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: TreeMama, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated