moral code

American  

[mawr-uhl kohd, mor-] / ˈmɔr əl ˈkoʊd, ˈmɒr- /

noun

1. a set of rules or principles of ethical conduct for a person or a group of people.

   The moral code and religious law of Islam deals with broad topics, such as crime and politics, but also with personal matters, like diet and prayer.

   She refused to take the job, saying that it was incompatible with her personal moral code.

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Etymology

Origin of moral code

First recorded in 1750–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

moral code

We should be clear, too, that Bernie Moreno’s decision to speak out against Miller doesn’t seem to stem from an obligation to his family or his own moral code.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for a soft approach on those defying the country’s moral code for now.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

Catholicism is the faith I was baptized in, the one I embraced as a teen and that’s the bedrock for my moral code of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2025

A student who did not want to be named told the BBC that the university enforced a strict moral code despite not being a religious institution.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2025

He measured himself and those around him by an impossibly rigorous moral code.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer