ethically
Americanadverb
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in a way that relates to morals, the principles of morality, or right and wrong conduct.
It is ethically unjustifiable to provide a lower standard of care to patients with lower income.
-
in a way that accords with moral principles or the rules or norms for right conduct, often specific to a profession.
Teachers have an obligation to act ethically, promoting positive values and maintaining professional standards of behavior.
Other Word Forms
- hyperethically adverb
- nonethically adverb
- pseudoethically adverb
- superethically adverb
Etymology
Origin of ethically
Explanation
When you do something ethically, you do it in an honest and principled way. Investing your money ethically requires you to carefully consider the way it will be used, and whether it will cause any harm. If a coffee grower pledges to act ethically, it means they promise to pay farmers fairly, and cosmetic companies run their businesses ethically when they use sustainable ingredients and refuse to test their products on animals. In both examples, there is thought given not just to making money, but to the way workers, animals, and the planet might be affected. The adverb ethically has a Greek root, ethos, "moral character."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Frances Perkins, Franklin Roosevelt’s Labor secretary, recalled having to clean up the agency — not just morally and ethically, but with broom and bucket, when she took over from William Nuckles Doak, Herbert Hoover’s appointee.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
Morally and ethically, altering these images was a poor decision by the host.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
In rare diseases and advanced cancer, such demands can be impractical, ethically dubious and less informative than carefully analyzed real-world evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
BBC News has counted at least eight different initiatives trying to come up with a label that could get the kind of global recognition that the "Fair Trade" logo has for ethically made products.
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026
“You haven’t acted ethically yourself today,” observed the captain.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
