moral compass

[mawr-uhl kuhm-puhs, mor‐]

noun

1. an internalized set of values and objectives that guide a person with regard to ethical behavior and decision-making.

   a rebellious teenager without a moral compass.

Word History and Origins

Origin of moral compass¹

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

"I am not challenging the question - but I think the premise of that question is the suggestion that people of faith can't love their kids in the same way that anyone can love their kids. All of us - faith or no faith - have a moral compass by which they live their lives."

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“This whole case is really sad. It’s so senseless,” said Bott, who said Nowden lacked a “moral compass.”

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Every smirk that follows a scandal, every boast of getting away with it, threatens to rewire the public’s moral compass.

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“They have stared, quaking, minds numb at the sheer magnitude of the evil that was the Nazi Holocaust. Seen for the first time in history what human beings are capable of when the moral compass is off. Lost.”

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They also introduce subjects and significant themes — family, friendship, moral compass — that reappear in her nonfiction and novels.

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