virtuous
Americanadjective
-
conforming to moral and ethical principles; morally excellent; upright.
Lead a virtuous life.
-
a virtuous young person.
adjective
-
characterized by or possessing virtue or moral excellence; righteous; upright
-
(of women) chaste or virginal
Other Word Forms
- nonvirtuous adjective
- nonvirtuously adverb
- nonvirtuousness noun
- quasi-virtuous adjective
- quasi-virtuously adverb
- unvirtuous adjective
- unvirtuously adverb
- unvirtuousness noun
- virtuously adverb
- virtuousness noun
Etymology
Origin of virtuous
First recorded in 1300–50; alteration (with i from Latin ) of Middle English vertuous, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin virtuōsus, equivalent to Latin virtu(s) virtue + -ōsus -ous
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.
“Thank you. It’s a lovely and virtuous trait, being able to admit that you were wrong. She’s alive. She helped the Poles. She buried Enigmas.”
From Literature
These hunks of gently cooked fish and venison took up most of my freezer and cost a fortune, but I felt virtuous knowing that my dog was eating “human grade” fare.
I mean, yes, but it’s not a virtuous one.
From Los Angeles Times
Voting is the most elemental of democratic exercises, a virtuous act residing right up there alongside motherhood and apple pie.
From Los Angeles Times
They want to feel and look virtuous without the discipline and sacrifice that virtue demands.
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.
