I. ˈmȯrəl, ˈmärəl adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin moralis, from mor-, mos custom + -alis -al — more at mood
1.
a. : of or relating to principles or considerations of right and wrong action or good and bad character : ethical
moral values
moral distinctions
moral conduct
moral convictions
a moral monster
b. : of or relating to the study of such principles or considerations
2. : expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior : didactic , moralizing
a moral lesson
a moral poem
a moral story
3.
a. : capable of being judged as good or evil or in terms of principles of right and wrong action : resulting from or belonging to human character, conduct, or intentions
the use of science is a moral question, that is to say, a human question — Irwin Edman
a moral act, the result of a choice — Norman Podhoretz
b. : capable of right and wrong action or of being governed by a sense of right
a moral agent
4. : of, relating to, or acting upon the mind, character, or will : psychological
a whole series of political, organizational, military and … moral triumphs — Joseph Alsop
gone to the dinner party determined to make a success … understanding the moral importance to herself of this initial contact with society — I.V.Morris
5.
a. : conforming to or proceeding from a standard of what is good and right : principled
not exactly a religious man, though a highly moral one — Katharine F. Gerould
a moral life
took a moral position on the issue though it cost him the nomination
show moral courage
b. Hegelianism : relating to virtuous conduct or natural excellence as distinguished from civic or legal righteousness
6.
a. : based upon inner conviction
have a moral certainty that my will is free
b. : virtual rather than actual, immediate, or completely demonstrable
have a moral certainty that the prisoner is guilty
7. : sanctioned by or operating upon one's conscience or ethical judgment
the ranch was legally all Mother's, except that Grampa … had a moral claim upon it — Mary Austin
felt under a sort of moral obligation not to be indifferent — Joseph Conrad
8.
a. : of or relating to the accepted customs or patterns of social or personal relations
a reflection of the moral imperatives of the community — Kingsley Davis
the enormous importance of moral conformity to the stability of society — Talcott Parsons
b. : sexually virtuous : not adulterous or promiscuous
middle-aged and cautious and monogamic and moral — Sinclair Lewis
c. : conforming to generally accepted standards of correct behavior
appeared moral , self-controlled, well-bathed, and literate — Jean Stafford
the teacher had to be more moral — which usually meant more conventional — J.M.Barzun
d. : expecting or exacting a strict adherence to conventional standards of speech or conduct : proper
a highly moral man who was outraged by the rowdy language of his fellow soldiers
Synonyms:
ethical , virtuous , righteous , noble : in describing persons and their actions and conduct, moral , opposed to immoral, may designate conformity to established sanctioned codes or accepted notions of right and wrong, now particularly in sexual conduct
living a moral life
the right thinker, the great moral statesman, the perfect model of the Christian cad — H.L.Mencken
there were black marketeers, but they were not seen as products of the moral deficiencies of the ruling class — Edward Shils
ethical may suggest conformity to a code or to the conclusions of other considerations of right, fair, equitable conduct
an ethical decision
an ethical solution to the problem — Edward Shils
virtuous may still indicate blended rectitude and integrity; often it implies abstinence from illicit sex
pacifists assume that other people are as reasonable and virtuous as they are themselves — Harold Nicolson
a man might grind the faces of the poor; but so long as he refrained from caressing his neighbors' wives and daughters, he was regarded as virtuous — Aldous Huxley
all virtuous persons … whose lives are chaste and placid — Elinor Wylie
righteous suggests freedom from guilt, culpability, or questionability; it may suggest religious or sectarian sanction or sanctimoniousness
persecution seemed justified in reason; it was very logical; broad reasons of Christian statecraft seemed to make for it; and often a righteous zeal wielded the weapon — H.O.Taylor
our wits are much more alert when engaged in wrongdoing (in which one mustn't be found out) than in a righteous occupation — Joseph Conrad
a republic admirable in justice and righteous in all its ways — V.L.Parrington
noble may indicate moral eminence with lack of any taint of the petty or dubious
a noble ideal, worthy of a Christian — V.L.Parrington
behavior … when the crisis actually came was simple, dignified, and even noble — P.E.More
the true task of man is to create for himself a noble memory, a mind filled with grandeur, forgiveness, restless ideals, and the dynamic ethical ferment preached by all religions at their best — J.L.Liebman
II. “, in sense 7 like morale noun
( -s )
1.
a. : the moral significance or practical lesson taught by or capable of being derived from a story, event, experience, or object
love makes gentlemen even of boors … is the constant moral of medieval story — Henry Adams
the moral of his life
the moral of recent history
b. : a passage pointing out usually in conclusion the lesson to be drawn from a story : maxim
the view … that highly serious art is didactic, ending with a moral — G.K.Chalmers
2. : morality play
3. morals plural
a. : the moral practices of an individual or culture : habits of life or modes of conduct
as principal, he maintained a high standard of morals and manners in the school — L.M.Crosbie
losing touch with the ordinary patterns and morals of life — Alan Moorehead
b. : sexual conduct
provoked a long and thoughtful discussion of the mores and morals of American womanhood — T.O.Heggen
a person of loose morals
4. morals plural : the study dealing with the principles of conduct : ethics
the science of morals endeavors to divide men into the good and the bad — J.W.Krutch
5. morals plural : moral teachings : the moral principles of an individual or culture
the Greek dramatists moralize only because morals are woven through and through the texture of their tragic idea — T.S.Eliot
an authoritative code of morals has force and effect when it expresses the settled customs of a stable society — Walter Lippmann
6. archaic : counterpart , image
the long chin … is the very moral of the governor's — Tobias Smollett
7.
[French, morale, moral nature, from moral, adjective]
: morale
the moral of the nation is therefore likely to be as important a factor in war as the moral of armies has always been — Atlantic
III. like moral I verb
archaic : moralize