morality
Americannoun
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the quality of being moral
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conformity, or degree of conformity, to conventional standards of moral conduct
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a system of moral principles
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an instruction or lesson in morals
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short for morality play
Usage
What is morality? Morality is a conformity to the rules of good or virtuous conduct, as in Because he was leading a life according to morality, the knight declined the reward for rescuing the princess.Morality is also an individual person’s goodness or virtuousness, as in Batman’s morality would not allow him to kill any evildoers.Morality is also a system of rules regarding goodness or virtue, as in The Bible is the source of Christian morality.Morality is a very complex concept that refers to the written or unwritten rules that society uses to determine what good behavior is. Good here means not evil and refers to behavior that people agree is honorable, just, or virtuous.If you are concerned with morality, you want to be a good person and don’t want to commit evil acts. The rules of goodness that define morality are called morals and can come from many different sources, such as religion or cultural norms. The opposite of morality is immorality.Example: I try to live my life according to morality, so I always tell the truth.
Related Words
See goodness.
Other Word Forms
- antimorality adjective
- hypermorality noun
- premorality noun
Etymology
Origin of morality
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English moralite, from Late Latin mōrālitās; moral, -ity
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.
“The Scarlet Letter” has engraved Nathaniel Hawthorne’s name into our national psyche as a critic of tyrannical small-town morality.
When did tension between national duty and universal morality reach a breaking point, and atrocity emerge as a moral scandal?
From Salon
"There's no compassion or morality to be found in that argument."
From BBC
A 50-year-old barber in Kabul said morality patrols "visit and check every day".
From Barron's
As UBS executive Frank Hackett, he charges through meetings barking orders and treating morality as disposable: the cost of doing business.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
