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moral

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moral¹

  • /ˈmɒɹəl/ Northern England, UK
  • /ˈmɔɹəl/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈmɒɾəl/ UK, Wales
  • /ˈmɔɾəl/ Scotland, UK
  • /ˈmoɹəl/ Canada, US
  • /ˈmɑɹəl/ Canada, New York City, Philadelphia
  • /ˈmɒɹəl/ Canada, Eastern New England, US
  • /ˈmɔɹəl/ Australia
  • /ˈmɒɹəl/ New Zealand
  • [ˈmɔ̟ɹəl] ~ [ˈmɞ̠ɹəl] New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɒɹəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English moral, from Old French moral, from Latin mōrālis (“relating to manners or morals”)

(first used by Cicero, to translate Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, “moral”)), from mos (“manner, custom”).

adjective more moral · most moral

  1. Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude. moral judgments; a moral poem

    Similar: ethical, good, decent, righteous

  2. Conforming to a given standard of right behaviour. a moral action

    Similar: acceptable, appropriate, courteous, decent, decorous, mannerly, proper, incorruptible, noble, righteous, virtuous

  3. Being sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment. The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on
  4. Capable of right and wrong action. a moral agent
  5. Probable but not proved. a moral certainty

    Similar: virtual

  6. Positively affecting the mind, confidence, or will. a moral victory; moral support

Opposite: immoral, unethical, corrupt, unscrupulous, amoral, non-moral, pseudomoral, unmoral

noun morals

  1. of a narrative The ethical significance or practical lesson. The moral of The Boy Who Cried Wolf is that if you repeatedly lie, people won't believe you when you tell the truth.
  2. in plural Moral practices or teachings: modes of conduct. a candidate with strong morals

    Similar: ethics, mores

  3. of a media A depiction of good or heroic actions.

    Similar: message

  4. obsolete A morality play.
  5. dated, slang A moral certainty. "You'd better not collar anything now, because it's a moral that old Antonio would nip out behind one of those cases."
  6. dated, slang An exact counterpart.

verb morals · moraling · moralling · moraled · moralled

  1. intransitive To moralize.

Moral²

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Spanish Moral.

proper noun Morals

  1. A surname from Spanish.

Moral³

Where it comes from

Unknown

proper noun

  1. A township in Shelby County, Indiana, United States.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: ethical, mental, lesson, virtuous, honorable, honourable, moralistic, conscientious, near, right, close, clean-living, chaste, clean, incorrupt, righteous

adjective

Opposite: immoral, unethical, corrupt, unscrupulous, amoral, non-moral, pseudomoral, unmoral

Translations

Every language

adj relating to principles of right and wrong

Españolmoral
日本語倫理的な rinriteki na
中文道德的 dàodé de
हिन्दीनैतिक naitik
Portuguêsmoral
Françaismoral
Deutschmoralisch
Italianomorale
Ελληνικάηθικός ithikós
Românămoral
Русскиймора́льный morálʹnyj, нравоучи́тельный nravoučítelʹnyj, назида́тельный nazidátelʹnyj
العربيةأَخْلَاقِيّ ʔaḵlāqiyy
עבריתמוּסָר musár

adj conforming to a standard of right behavior

Españolmoral
日本語倫理的な rinriteki na
हिन्दीनैतिक naitik
Portuguêsmoral
Françaismoral
Deutschmoralisch, sittlich
Ελληνικάηθικός ithikós
Русскиймора́льный morálʹnyj, нра́вственный nrávstvennyj, эти́ческий etíčeskij, доброде́тельный dobrodételʹnyj
עבריתמוּסָרִי musarí

adj capable of right and wrong action

Françaismoral
Deutschmoralisch
Ελληνικάηθικός ithikós

adj probable but not proved

Русскийдухо́вный duxóvnyj, душе́вный dušévnyj, вну́тренний vnútrennij

adj positively affecting the mind, confidence or will

Deutschmoralisch
Ελληνικάηθικός ithikós
Русскиймора́льный morálʹnyj

noun the moral significance or practical lesson

Españolmoraleja
한국어교훈 gyohun
日本語教訓 kyōkun
中文教訓 /教训 jiàoxùn
हिन्दीनैतिक naitik
Portuguêsmoral
Françaismoralité
DeutschMoral
Русскиймора́ль morálʹ, назида́ние nazidánije, поуче́ние poučénije
العربيةعِظَة ʕiẓa

noun moral practices or teachings

中文道德 dàodé
हिन्दीनैतिक naitik
Portuguêsmoralidade
Françaismorale
DeutschMoral
Русскиймора́ль morálʹ, нра́вственность nrávstvennostʹ
Tiếng Việtđạo đức

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Cite this
MLA

"moral." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/moral. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

moral. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/moral

Chicago

"moral." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/moral.

BibTeX
@misc{moral_2026,
  title = {moral},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/moral},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}