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
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."
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.
These obstructions don’t pop up specifically because we’re straight or gay or queer or open or pansexual or asexual or ethically nonmonogamous, but because we’re human.
From Salon • Jul. 5, 2026
This question matters scientifically as well as ethically.
From Science Daily • Jun. 21, 2026
"Creating 'deadbots' of Russian soldiers or deepfakes of fallen Russian soldiers returning from Ukraine is extremely complex and ethically difficult to assess in a clear-cut way," she says.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
Judges won’t always act ethically without legal constraints.
From Slate • Jun. 8, 2026
Sometimes the omission is ethically questionable, as when the sidestepping politician admits only that “mistakes were made,” omitting the phrase with by that would identify who made those mistakes.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
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.
