virtuous

[vur-choo-uhs]

adjective

1. conforming to moral and ethical principles; morally excellent; upright.

   Lead a virtuous life.

2. chaste.

   a virtuous young person.

virtuous

/ ˈvɜːtʃʊəs /

adjective

1. characterized by or possessing virtue or moral excellence; righteous; upright

2. (of women) chaste or virginal

Other Word Forms

• virtuousness noun
• virtuously adverb
• nonvirtuous adjective
• nonvirtuously adverb
• nonvirtuousness noun
• quasi-virtuous adjective
• quasi-virtuously adverb
• unvirtuous adjective
• unvirtuously adverb
• unvirtuousness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of virtuous¹

First recorded in 1300–50; alteration (with i from Latin ) of Middle English vertuous, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin virtuōsus, equivalent to Latin virtu(s) virtue + -ōsus -ous

Example Sentences

Even my virtuous friends sometimes had trouble when they tried to collect the goods at 9 p.m.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“The momentum for a virtuous cycle of wages and prices is likely to be significantly weaker compared to this year,” said Nakayama at Okasan Securities.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“We think that they are falsely implying to others that they are more virtuous than they actually are,” says Jillian Jordan, an assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, who studies moral signaling.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The organization operated as a virtuous circle for rebuilding, encouraging residents to keep going, said Okrepkie, 46.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Juxtapositions between high and low, between the virtuous and the criminal, and these things existed cheek by jowl.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• honest 
• honorable 
• noble 
• principled 
• righteous 
• wholesome