Vocabulary     

What does moral mean?

Definitions for moral
ˈmɔr əl, ˈmɒr-moral

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word moral.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. moral, lessonadjective

    the significance of a story or event

    "the moral of the story is to love thy neighbor"

  2. moraladjective

    concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior and character based on those principles

    "moral sense"; "a moral scrutiny"; "a moral lesson"; "a moral quandary"; "moral convictions"; "a moral life"

  3. moraladjective

    psychological rather than physical or tangible in effect

    "a moral victory"; "moral support"

Wiktionary

  1. moralnoun

    The ethical significance or practical lesson.

    The moral of the is that if you repeatedly lie, people won't believe you when you tell the truth.

  2. moralnoun

    Moral practices or teachings: modes of conduct.

  3. moraladjective

    Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially for teaching right behaviour.

    moral judgments, a moral poem

  4. moraladjective

    Conforming to a standard of right behaviour; sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment.

    a moral obligation

  5. moraladjective

    Capable of right and wrong action.

    a moral agent

  6. moraladjective

    Probable but not proved.

    a moral certainty

  7. moraladjective

    Positively affecting the mind, confidence, or will.

    a moral victory, moral support

  8. Etymology: From moral, from moralis

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. MORALadjective

    Etymology: moral, Fr. moralis, Latin.

    Keep at the least within the compass of moral actions, which have in them vice or virtue. Richard Hooker, b. ii.

    Laws and ordinances positive he distinguisheth from the laws of the two tables, which were moral. Richard Hooker, b. iii.

    In moral actions divine law helpeth exceedingly the law of reason to guide man’s life, but in supernatural it alone guideth. Richard Hooker, b. i.

    Now, brandish’d weapons glitt’ring in their hands,
    Mankind is broken loose from moral bands;
    No rights of hospitality remain,
    The guest, by him who harbour’d him, is slain. Dryden.

    France spreads his banners in our noiseless land,
    With plumed helm thy slay’r begins his threats,
    Whilst thou, a moral fool, sit’st still and criest. William Shakespeare.

    We have found it, with a moral certainty, the seat of the Mosaical abyss. Thomas Burnet, Theory of the Earth.

    Mathematical things are capable of the strictest demonstration; conclusions in natural philosophy are capable of proof by an induction of experiments; things of a moral nature by moral arguments, and matters of fact by credible testimony. John Tillotson, Sermons.

    A moral universality, is when the predicate agrees to the greatest part of the particulars which are contained under the universal subject. Isaac Watts, Logick.

  2. Moralnoun

    Their moral and œconomy,
    Most perfectly they made agree. Matthew Prior.

    Get you some distill’d carduus benedictus, and lay it to your heart; it is the only thing for a qualm.
    —— Benedictus? why benedictus? you have some moral in this benedictus.
    —— Moral! No, by my troth I have no moral meaning; I meant plain holy thistle. William Shakespeare, Much ado about nothing.

    Left behind to expound the meaning or moral of his signs and tokens. William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew.

    The moral is the first business of the poet, as being the ground-work of his instruction; this being formed, he contrives such a design or fable as may be most suitable to the moral. John Dryden, Dufresnoy.

    I found a moral first, and then studied for a fable, but could do nothing that pleased me. Jonathan Swift, to Gay.

  3. To Moralverb

    To moralise; to make moral reflections.

    Etymology: from the adjective.

    When I did hear
    The motley fool thus moral on the time,
    My lungs began to crow like chanticleer,
    That fools should be so deep contemplative. William Shakespeare.

Wikipedia

  1. Moral

    A moral (from Latin morālis) is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A moral is a lesson in a story or in real life.

ChatGPT

  1. moral

    Moral refers to principles or values that govern an individual or group's behavior, decisions, and judgments regarding what is considered right or wrong, good or bad, and just or unjust. It involves an understanding of what is ethically correct and guides individuals to act in ways that align with those principles to maintain integrity and promote the overall well-being of oneself and others.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Moraladjective

    relating to duty or obligation; pertaining to those intentions and actions of which right and wrong, virtue and vice, are predicated, or to the rules by which such intentions and actions ought to be directed; relating to the practice, manners, or conduct of men as social beings in relation to each other, as respects right and wrong, so far as they are properly subject to rules

  2. Moraladjective

    conformed to accepted rules of right; acting in conformity with such rules; virtuous; just; as, a moral man. Used sometimes in distinction from religious; as, a moral rather than a religious life

  3. Moraladjective

    capable of right and wrong action or of being governed by a sense of right; subject to the law of duty

  4. Moraladjective

    acting upon or through one's moral nature or sense of right, or suited to act in such a manner; as, a moral arguments; moral considerations. Sometimes opposed to material and physical; as, moral pressure or support

  5. Moraladjective

    supported by reason or probability; practically sufficient; -- opposed to legal or demonstrable; as, a moral evidence; a moral certainty

  6. Moraladjective

    serving to teach or convey a moral; as, a moral lesson; moral tales

  7. Moralnoun

    the doctrine or practice of the duties of life; manner of living as regards right and wrong; conduct; behavior; -- usually in the plural

  8. Moralnoun

    the inner meaning or significance of a fable, a narrative, an occurrence, an experience, etc.; the practical lesson which anything is designed or fitted to teach; the doctrine meant to be inculcated by a fiction; a maxim

  9. Moralnoun

    a morality play. See Morality, 5

  10. Moralverb

    to moralize

  11. Etymology: [F., fr. It. moralis, fr. mos, moris, manner, custom, habit, way of life, conduct.]

Wikidata

  1. Moral

    A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Moral

    mor′al, adj. of or belonging to the manners or conduct of men: conformed to right, ethical, virtuous: capable of knowing right and wrong: subject to the moral law: instructing with regard to morals: supported by evidence of reason or probability—opp. to Demonstrative: belonging to the mind, or to the will: (Shak.) moralising.—n. in pl. manners: the doctrine or practice of the duties of life: moral philosophy or ethics: conduct, esp. sexual conduct: in sing. the practical lesson given by anything: an emblem or allegory: (slang) a certainty, an exact counterpart.—v.i. to moralise.—ns. Mor′aler (Shak.), a moraliser; Moralisā′tion, act of moralising, explanation in a moral sense.—v.t. Mor′alise, to apply to a moral purpose: to explain in a moral sense.—v.i. to speak or write on moral subjects: to make moral reflections.—ns. Mor′aliser; Mor′alism, a moral maxim; moral counsel: morality as distinct from religion; Mor′alist, one who teaches morals, or who practises moral duties: a merely moral as distinguished from a religious man: one who prides himself on his morality.—adj. Moralist′ic.—n. Moral′ity, quality of being moral: that in an action which renders it right or wrong: the practice of moral duties apart from religion: virtue: the doctrine which treats of actions as being right or wrong: ethics: a kind of drama which grew out of mysteries and miracle-plays, and continued in fashion till Elizabeth's time, in which allegorical representations of the virtues and vices were introduced as dramatis personæ.—adv. Mor′ally, in a moral manner: uprightly: to all intents and purposes, practically.—Moral agent, one who acts under a knowledge of right and wrong; Moral certainty, a likelihood so great as to be safely acted on, although not capable of being certainly proved; Moral defeat (see Moral victory); Moral faculty (see Moral sense); Moral law, a law or rules for life and conduct, founded on what is right and wrong: the law of conscience; Moral philosophy, the science which treats of the qualities of actions as being right or wrong, and the duty of mankind with regard to such actions; Moral sense, that power of the mind which knows or judges actions to be right or wrong, and determines conduct accordingly; Moral theology, ethics treated with reference to a divine source; Moral victory, a defeat in appearance, but in some important sense a real victory. [Fr.,—L. moralis—mos, moris, custom.]

Editors Contribution

  1. moral

    A principle of just, honest, fair, peaceful and unifying conduct and behavior.

    The morals within society are very important for us and our children.


    Submitted by MaryC on March 1, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. Moral

    Moral vs. Morale -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Moral and Morale.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. MORAL

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Moral is ranked #34618 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Moral surname appeared 653 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Moral.

    54% or 353 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    27.2% or 178 total occurrences were Asian.
    15.6% or 102 total occurrences were White.
    1.3% or 9 total occurrences were Black.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'moral' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1954

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'moral' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3564

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'moral' in Adjectives Frequency: #263

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for moral »

  1. molar

  2. romal

How to pronounce moral?

How to say moral in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of moral in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of moral in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of moral in a Sentence

  1. Kaushik Basu:

    Our agriculture regulation needs change, but the new laws will end up serving corporate interests more than farmers. Hats off to the sensibility moral strength of India’s farmers.

  2. David Mepham:

    But I think it is deeply disturbing that The British government appears to be saying this week that it just wants to talk about trade, and The British government just wants to talk about investment, and moral issues and human rights concerns and people suffering at the hands of the Chinese state should be shunted to one side.

  3. New York:

    We do not take these actions lightly or with any sense of joy. We have both a duty and a moral obligation to protect the rule of law in our country, and we intend to do just that.

  4. Kristalina Georgieva:

    This is a moral imperative and an economic necessity, we have seen in the past that divergence that leads to more inequality, it creates a breeding ground for more instability in the world.

  5. C. S. Lewis, The Poison of Subjectivism (from Christian Reflections; p. 108):

    The very idea of freedom presupposes some objective moral law which overarches rulers and ruled alike.

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Popularity rank by frequency of use

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References

Translations for moral

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"moral." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 15 Jan. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/moral>.

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