
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mōrālis, from mōs, mōr-, custom.]
morally mor'al·ly adv.SYNONYMS moral, ethical, virtuous, righteous. These adjectives mean in accord with right or good conduct. Moral applies to personal character and behavior, especially sexual conduct: "Our moral sense dictates a clearcut preference for these societies which share with us an abiding respect for individual human rights" (Jimmy Carter). Ethical stresses idealistic standards of right and wrong: "Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants" (Omar N. Bradley). Virtuous implies moral excellence and loftiness of character: "The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous" (Frederick Douglass). Righteous emphasizes moral uprightness; when it is applied to actions, reactions, or impulses, it often implies justifiable outrage: "He was . . . stirred by righteous wrath" (John Galsworthy).
| moot, mood, monologue, soliloquy | |
| moratorium, more, mores |
adjective
noun
Definition: ethical, honest
Antonyms: amoral, bad, corrupt, dishonest, evil, immoral, sinful, unethical, unprincipled, vile
Pertaining to human behaviour, especially the distinction between what is right and wrong.
adj.
Conforming to a local and mutable standard of right. Having the quality of general expediency.
It is sayd there be a raunge of mountaynes in the Easte, on
one syde of the which certayn conducts are immorall, yet on the other
syde they are holden in good esteeme; wherebye the mountayneer is much
conveenyenced, for it is given to him to goe downe eyther way and act
as it shall suite his moode, withouten offence.
Gooke's Meditations
The great instrument of moral good is the imagination.
— Percy Shelley (1792-1822).
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| mop, mootah, moose | |
| morning-glory, morph, morphodite |
Relating to the conscience or moral sense or to the general principles of correct conduct.

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A moral (from Latin morālis) is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim.
As an example of an explicit maxim, at the end of Aesop's fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, in which the plodding and determined tortoise wins a race against the much-faster yet extremely arrogant hare, the stated moral is "slow and steady wins the race". However, other morals can often be taken from the story itself; for instance, that "arrogance or overconfidence in one's abilities may lead to failure or the loss of an event, race, or contest".
The use of stock characters is a means of conveying the moral of the story by eliminating complexity of personality and so spelling out the issues arising in the interplay between the characters, enables the writer to generate a clear message. With more rounded characters, such as those typically found in Shakespeare's plays, the moral may be more nuanced but no less present, and the writer may point it up in other ways (see, for example, the Prologue to Romeo and Juliet).
Throughout the history of recorded literature, the majority of fictional writing has served not only to entertain but also to instruct, inform or improve their audiences or readership. In classical drama, for example, the role of the chorus was to comment on the proceedings and draw out a message for the audience to take away with them; while the novels of Charles Dickens are a vehicle for morals regarding the social and economic system of Victorian Britain.
Morals have typically been more obvious in children's literature, sometimes even being introduced with the phrase: "The moral of the story is …". Such explicit techniques have grown increasingly out of fashion in modern storytelling, and are now usually only included for ironic purposes.
Some examples are: "Better to be safe than sorry", "The evil deserves no aid", "Be friends with whom you don't like", "Don't judge people by the way they look", "Slow and steady wins the race", "Once started down the dark path, forever will it hold your destiny", and "Your overconfidence is your weakness". They are mainly in children books and stories or just stories. Aesop's Fables are the most famous of stories with strong moral conclusions.
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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - moralsk, moral-, åndelig
n. - moral, morale, åndelig habitus
idioms:
Nederlands (Dutch)
moraal, zedenles, principe, moreel, zedelijk
Français (French)
adj. - moral
n. - morale, m¯urs, moralité
idioms:
Deutsch (German)
n. - Moral
adj. - moralisch, sittlich, tugendhaft
idioms:
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - επιμύθιο, ηθικό δίδαγμα, (πληθ.) ηθικές αρχές
adj. - ηθικός, ψυχικός, ενάρετος, χρηστοήθης, χρηστός
idioms:
idioms:
Português (Portuguese)
n. - moral (m)
adj. - moral
idioms:
Русский (Russian)
мораль, нравы, нравственный, вежливый, духовный, нравоучительный
idioms:
Español (Spanish)
adj. - moral, moralidad, honrado, recto, con moralidad, decente
n. - moral, moralidad, moraleja, enseñanza, ética
idioms:
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - (sens)moral, sedelära, moral
adj. - moralisk, andlig
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
道德的, 良心的, 品性端正的, 道德, 寓意, 品行
idioms:
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 道德的, 良心的, 品性端正的
n. - 道德, 寓意, 品行
idioms:
한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 윤리의, 품행이 단정한, 정신적인
n. - 교훈, 매우 유사한 것
idioms:
日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 道徳の, 道義上の, 道徳的な, 精神的な, 教訓的な, ありそうな
n. - 教訓, 道徳, 品行, 修身, 倫理学
idioms:
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) عبرة, مغزى (صفه) سلوك أخلاقي
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - מוסרי, בעל מוסר-השכל, טהר-מידות, צדיק
n. - מוסר, מוסר-השכל, צדיק, פרק מאלף, מידות (ברבים), אורח חיים מוסרי (ברבים)