principled
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of principled
Explanation
If you decide to take a lower grade rather than cheat on a test, you are making a principled decision, or one that is based on moral rightness. Most people have a set of principles or basic moral rules that they follow. These might include not stealing, not cheating, and treating people as you would like to be treated. Decisions made following these rules are principled, as are people who follow their principles often. If you take a principled stance on censorship, your defend or refute it actively based on your convictions.
Vocabulary lists containing principled
President Trump's Second State of the Union Address (2019)
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They Called Us Enemy
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Obama's State of the Union Address, 2014
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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.
Michael Shannon, “Death by Lightning” “Michael Shannon usually plays the assassin. In ‘Death by Lightning,’ he plays President James A. Garfield, showing us a principled man who aims for a life of public service.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
The Northamptonshire politician said it had been a "pleasure" to work with Streeting, who "never shies away from the right principled decision, even in difficult times".
From BBC • May 15, 2026
Overcoming years of principled resistance to monitoring my absence of well-being didn’t even require lifting a finger.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
For a while, they thought he was principled if misguided, and not the best at explaining himself.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026
“I’ve got potatoes and root vegetables in the oven,” he said in a low voice, “for those principled ones among us who don’t particularly feel like eating dead meat.”
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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.
