Meaning & use
loyalty
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Meanings
noununcountable
Steady faithfulness and support shown to a person, group, belief, or country over time.
Grammar: No plural for the general quality: her loyalty was clear.
Patterns
- loyalty to someone or something
- show loyalty
- swear loyalty
Her loyalty to her friends never changed.
The dog showed loyalty even after years apart.
Employees valued loyalty more than short-term reward.
nouncountable or uncountable
A particular bond or duty of allegiance to a country, organization, cause, or person.
Grammar: Often singular for one bond; plural loyalties suggests competing duties.
Patterns
- divided loyalties
- a conflict of loyalties
- political or national loyalty
He felt torn between family loyalties and his job.
The scandal tested public loyalty to the party.
A conflict of loyalties made the decision painful.
Common combinations
- loyalty to someone
- Her loyalty to the team stayed strong after the defeat.
- customer loyalty
- Good repairs build customer loyalty over many years.
- sense of loyalty
- A sense of loyalty kept him from leaving during the crisis.
- test someone's loyalty
- The captain never tried to test his players' loyalty.
Synonyms and how they differ
- allegiance
- More formal and often legal, political, or ceremonial; loyalty is warmer and personal.
- fidelity
- Strong in promises, marriage, or copying accurately; less everyday than loyalty.
- devotion
- Suggests deep love or dedication; loyalty stresses keeping faith rather than passion.
- faithfulness
- Highlights not betraying trust; loyalty can also include active support.
Opposites
Word family
- loyal adjective
- Showing steady faithfulness to a person or cause.
- loyally adverb
- In a faithful, supportive way.
- loyalist noun
- A person who remains loyal to a ruler, party, or cause.
- disloyalty noun
- The failure to remain faithful or supportive.
Commonly confused: loyalty or royalty? loyalty or loyalty card?
loyalty vs royalty
Royalty means kings, queens, or payments for using creative work; loyalty means faithful support.
loyalty vs loyalty card
A loyalty card rewards repeat customers; it is a set phrase, not the general feeling of loyalty.
Practice
Complete the sentence: After the scandal, many voters questioned their ___ to the party.
Choose one answer.
Loyalty means faithful support and fits to the party. Royalty is unrelated, while loitering and layout do not express allegiance.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “loyalty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.