cardinal virtue
Americannoun
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anything considered to be an important or characteristic virtue.
Tenacity is his cardinal virtue.
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Ancient Philosophy. cardinal virtues, justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude.
Etymology
Origin of cardinal virtue
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50
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.
Within a year of each other, Joseph Schumpeter coined the term "Ricardian vice," which you mentioned earlier, and Milton Friedman launched his campaign to revive it as a cardinal virtue.
From Salon
Belying his stern image, his first encyclical, the most authoritative form of papal writing, centered on love, one of three treatises he planned to write on the cardinal virtues of love, hope and faith.
From Los Angeles Times
Among the cardinal virtues, according to the Stoics, are courage and wisdom.
From Washington Post
"I heard that forgiveness is a cardinal virtue for Hindus," I said.
From Salon
Doubt is a cardinal virtue in the sciences, which advance through skeptics’ willingness to question the experts.
From Washington Post
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.
