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.
Synonym Usage
See goodness.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of morality
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English moralite, from Late Latin mōrālitās; see moral, -ity
Explanation
Morality is a concern with what’s right or wrong. Your sense of morality prevents you from cheating on your school exams, on your taxes, or on your spouse. You’ll notice the word moral is in morality. And you might remember reading fairy tales that ended with the phrase, “The moral of the story is…” That’s because stories for children are often intended to instruct kids as to what the good or right decision is in a situation. For example, Cinderella teaches kids that if their foot fits the glass slipper, they can end up marrying a prince. How's that for morality?
Vocabulary lists containing morality
Lyndon B. Johnson on "The Great Society" (1964)
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"American History" by Judith Ortiz Cofer
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Black Like Me
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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.
See Examples For:
Christine Ji delves into the debate over morality and technology.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
“Promising Young Woman” is not a compare-and-contrast film, where overly didactic morality coaching encourages the viewer to say, “Ah, yes, now I understand rape culture.”
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
The conflict between these characters is greater than the morality tale engulfing them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
He discusses a theory of human morality embracing three ethics that drive human behavior: autonomy, divinity and community.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
His operas would rip to shreds the comfortable and suffocating morality of the middle classes.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Lead poisoning is the single biggest threat to condors and responsible for around half of all moralities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2025
In each case, she examines her life through the lens of fairy tales, demonstrating how we can draw on their moralities and imageries to make sense of ourselves and our relationship to others.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2023
Titles such as X-Men and Black Panther broached civil rights issues and blurred moralities.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 27, 2018
They are not motivated by simple human moralities, by universalized appeals to the superego such as “good cat” or “bad cat,” by guilt culture or shame culture.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2012
The intensity had not abated after two years, nor had her awe at his self-assured eccentricities and his fierce moralities.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
