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.
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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
Derived Forms
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."
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.
