virtue
Americannoun
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moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.
- Antonyms:
- vice
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conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.
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chastity; virginity.
to lose one's virtue.
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a particular moral excellence.
-
a good or admirable quality or property.
the virtue of knowing one's weaknesses.
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effective force; power or potency.
a charm with the virtue of removing warts.
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virtues, an order of angels.
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manly excellence; valor.
idioms
-
make a virtue of necessity, to make the best of a difficult or unsatisfactory situation.
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by / in virtue of, by reason of; because of.
to act by virtue of one's legitimate authority.
noun
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the quality or practice of moral excellence or righteousness
-
a particular moral excellence
the virtue of tolerance
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any of the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) or theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity)
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any admirable quality, feature, or trait
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chastity, esp in women
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archaic an effective, active, or inherent power or force
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on account of or by reason of
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to acquiesce in doing something unpleasant with a show of grace because one must do it in any case
Synonym Usage
See goodness.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of virtue
First recorded in 1175–1225; alteration (with i from Latin ) of Middle English vertu, from Anglo-French, Old French from Latin virtūt-, stem of virtūs “maleness, worth, virtue,” equivalent to vir “man” + -tūs, abstract noun suffix; see virile
Explanation
Virtue is the quality of being morally good. If you're writing a screenplay and you want it to be a real tearjerker, make sure your hero is full of virtue. The word virtue comes from the Latin root vir, for man. At first virtue meant manliness or valor, but over time it settled into the sense of moral excellence. Virtue can also mean excellence in general. One of your virtues might be your generous willingness to help out your friends. The phrase by virtue of means "as a result of" or "by authority of." You will achieve success by virtue of hard work (or by virtue of inside connections).
Vocabulary lists containing virtue
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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"The Monkey's Paw," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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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.
Unless it’s Team A, by virtue of selecting first using Team B’s pick the previous season, that is eligible to pick first in consecutive seasons.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
But Ackman’s case is that simplicity is a virtue and even the largest companies can be bargains.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
A related worry is that all this minding the social consequences of our choices can lead to virtue signaling.
From Slate • May 15, 2026
Crawley's place in the XI is likely to go to Durham 26-year-old Gay, who has the advantage over fellow left-hander Rew, 22, by virtue of being a specialist opener.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
One cannot, therefore, attribute either to Fortune or to virtue what he accomplished without either the one or the other.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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.
