moral

7 definitions • 12 examples

relating to the standards of good or bad behaviour, fairness, honesty, etc. that each person believes in, rather than to laws:

It's her moral obligation to tell the police what she knows.

It is not part of a novelist's job to make a moral judgment.

She was the only politician to condemn the proposed law on moral grounds (= for moral reasons).

The Democrats are attempting to capture the moral high ground (= are trying to appear more honest and good than the other political parties).

behaving in ways considered by most people to be correct and honest:

She's a very moral woman.

Oh, stop being so moral!

Is TV responsible for weakening people's moral fibre (= ability to behave well and honestly and work hard)?

standards for good or bad character and behaviour:

public/private morals

The moral of a story, event, or experience is the message that you understand from it about how you should or should not behave:

And the moral of the story is that honesty is always the best policy.

relating to standards of good behavior, honesty, and fair dealing, or showing high standards of this type:

a highly moral man

It’s her moral obligation to tell the police what she knows.

a message about how people should or should not behave, contained in a story, event, or experience:

The moral of the story is that honesty is the best policy.

a lesson that can be learned from a story, esp. a fable or other work of literature