Morality Meaning
/məˈɹælɪti/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounRecognition of the distinction between good and evil or between right and wrong; respect for and obedience to the rules of right conduct; the mental disposition or characteristic of behaving in a manner intended to produce morally good results.
nounA set of social rules, customs, traditions, beliefs, or practices which specify proper, acceptable forms of conduct.
Sentence Examples
Today we are going to discuss this problem in terms of morality.
We must think further about public morality.
Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people we dislike.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient civilization had a strict and clear code of ____ that everyone followed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The philosophy professor led a fascinating discussion about the nature of ____ and how people decide what is right and what is wrong.
Word Origin & History
From Anglo-Norman moralité, Middle French moralité, from Late Latin mōrālitās (“manner, characteristic, character”), from Latin mōrālis (“relating to manners or morals”), from mōs (“manner, custom”). equivalent to moral + -ity.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Without morality, intellect were impossible for him; a thoroughly immoral man could not know anything at all! To know a thing, what we can call knowing, a man must first love the thing, sympathize with it: that is, be virtuously related to it."
— 1840 May, Thomas Carlyle, “(please specify the page)”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC:
"Ellery Jackson-Hubbard. […] A man radiating prosperity, optimism and selfishness. Has no morality whatever. Is a conscious individualist, cold-blooded, pitiless, working only for himself, and believing in nothing but himself."
— 1910 November, Jack London, “Actors’ Description of Characters”, in Theft: A Play in Four Acts, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page x:
"Science and art without morality are not dangerous in the sense commonly supposed. They are not dangerous like a fire, but dangerous like a fog."
— 1911, G. K. Chesterton, chapter 16, in Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens:
"It may be true that you cannot legislate morality, but behavior can be regulated."
— 1965 April 30, “King Moves North”, in TIME, archived from the original on 23 May 2009:
"Masters and Johnson wanted their work to be taken seriously, and wanted to stay a step ahead of the morality police, so they tended to write in almost comically dense medicalese."
— 2009 June 26, Dwight Garner, “Out of the Bedroom, Into the Clinic”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient civilization had a strict and clear code of ____ that everyone followed.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The philosophy professor led a fascinating discussion about the nature of ____ and how people decide what is right and what is wrong.