virtuous
Americanadjective
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conforming to moral and ethical principles; morally excellent; upright.
Lead a virtuous life.
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a virtuous young person.
adjective
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characterized by or possessing virtue or moral excellence; righteous; upright
-
(of women) chaste or virginal
Other Word Forms
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
Explanation
Virtuous is “good” with a halo. If you call someone virtuous, you are saying that person is living according to high moral standards. Someone virtuous is who you want leading your Girl Scout troop. When you use virtuous to describe an action, like, "Your decision to cancel your vacation plans when your mom got sick was virtuous," it’s almost as though you’re referring to an ideal of goodness. In past centuries, virtuous was synonymous with virginal. In many 18th century English novels, for example, a woman didn't even have to be all that nice to be called virtuous; it just mattered that she was sexually innocent.
Vocabulary lists containing virtuous
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 1–7
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Thumbs Up: Synonyms for "Good"
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Much Ado About Nothing
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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.
Between April and November 2024 visitors to Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire were invited to stitch names of women they felt should be celebrated on to a textile display called Virtuous Woman.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2025
Besides winning the Pulitzer, she received the Bollingen Prize in 2001 for lifetime achievement and the National Book Award in 2014 for “Faithful and Virtuous Night.”
From Seattle Times • Oct. 13, 2023
‘Park Dae Sung: Virtuous Ink and Contemporary Brush’ Paintings and calligraphy by the self-taught Korean artist are on view July 17 through Dec. 11.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2022
She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for “The Wild Iris” and a National Book Award in 2014 for her most recent collection of verse, “Faithful and Virtuous Night.”
From Washington Post • Oct. 8, 2020
Virtuous; that means, faithful to the man she married.
From Saul of Tarsus A Tale of the Early Christians by Miller, Elizabeth
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.
