virtue

American  

[vur-choo] / ˈvɜr tʃu /

noun

1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.

   Antonyms:

   vice

2. conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.

   Synonyms:

   integrity, probity

3. chastity; virginity.

   to lose one's virtue.

4. a particular moral excellence.

5. a good or admirable quality or property.

   the virtue of knowing one's weaknesses.

6. effective force; power or potency.

   a charm with the virtue of removing warts.

7. virtues, an order of angels.

8. manly excellence; valor.

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idioms

1. make a virtue of necessity, to make the best of a difficult or unsatisfactory situation.

2. by / in virtue of, by reason of; because of.

   to act by virtue of one's legitimate authority.

virtue British  

/ -tʃuː, ˈvɜːtjuː /

noun

1. the quality or practice of moral excellence or righteousness

2. a particular moral excellence

   the virtue of tolerance

3. any of the cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) or theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity)

4. any admirable quality, feature, or trait

5. chastity, esp in women

6. archaic an effective, active, or inherent power or force

7. on account of or by reason of

8. to acquiesce in doing something unpleasant with a show of grace because one must do it in any case

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virtue More Idioms  

1. see by virtue of; make a virtue of necessity.

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Related Words

See goodness.

Other Word Forms

• nonvirtue noun
• virtueless adjective
• virtuelessness noun

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).

Example Sentences

Mira Costa ended Redondo Union’s 18-match winning streak and evened up the league standings, but the Mustangs gained the tiebreaker by virtue of fewer sets lost head-to-head.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

While from time to time, like Matthew Arnold a century before, she professed to see some virtue in the lower classes, she reserved most of her literary barbs for the middle class.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026

Ms. Simard’s own forebears worked the Canadian forests in this manner, which has the virtue of leaving lots of organic material behind while going easy on the springy, carbon-rich forest floor.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

The disgraced former prince received the honour in 2012 "by virtue of patrimony", due to his father Prince Philip having been a Freeman.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

These opportunities, therefore, made these men successful, and their outstanding virtue enabled them to recognize that opportunity, whereby their nation was ennobled and became extremely happy.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Related Words

• advantage
• character
• ethic
• excellence
• faith
• generosity
• goodness
• ideal
• kindness
• love
• merit
• morality
• purity
• quality
• rectitude
• righteousness
• value