morality

[ muh-ral-i-tee, maw- ]

noun

, plural mo·ral·i·ties

1. conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.
2. moral quality or character.
3. virtue in sexual matters; chastity.
4. a doctrine or system of morals.
5. moral instruction; a moral lesson, precept, discourse, or utterance.
6. morality play.

morality

/ məˈrælɪtɪ /

noun

1. the quality of being moral
2. conformity, or degree of conformity, to conventional standards of moral conduct
3. a system of moral principles
4. an instruction or lesson in morals
5. short for morality play

Other Words From

• anti·mo·rali·ty adjective
• hyper·mo·rali·ty noun
• premo·rali·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of morality¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English moralite, from Late Latin mōrālitās; moral, -ity

Synonym Study

See goodness.

Example Sentences

Four years after concluding their work together on NBC’s “The Good Place,” a philosophical comedy that explored morality and ethics through a group of deceased characters navigating the afterlife, Schur and Danson have reunited for a tender, humorous meditation on loneliness and the search for late-in-life purpose with “A Man on the Inside,” an eight-episode Netflix series premiering Nov. 21.

From Los Angeles Times

All four were arrested for their support and involvement in the wave of unprecedented protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in 2022 after being detained by Iran’s morality police.

From BBC

Indeed, Douglass and other black abolitionists condemned slavery’s illiberal architecture by presenting the institution as the limit case for the principles of Christianity and philosophical notions of justice and fairness that might be described as a type of universal morality.

From Salon

The cash-hungry hitman's quote may seem an odd choice for someone soon to take the second-highest office in the land, especially one that essentially reads as a critique of any system of morality.

From Salon

In this model of governance, Donald Trump is the State; his corrupt desires and various failings of character and morality will be made into official public policy; The American people will have to learn to read and respond to Trump’s moods and mercurial nature and impulses if they want to survive.

From Salon

Related Words

• decency
• integrity
• justice
• morals
• philosophy
• principle
• probity
• purity
• rectitude
• righteousness
• virtue