Meaning & use
virtuous
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableformalapproving
Showing high moral standards and consistently doing what is right.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a virtuous life.
Patterns
- lead a virtuous life
- be virtuous
She lived a virtuous life, helping neighbors and never cheating anyone.
The story's hero is a virtuous young man.
He was praised as a virtuous leader who refused bribes.
adjectivecomparablehumorousinformal
Pleased with yourself for behaving well, often in a way that seems smug.
Grammar: Often after feel: feel virtuous.
Patterns
- feel virtuous
- look virtuous
I felt virtuous after going to the gym at six in the morning.
He looked virtuous as he passed on dessert.
She gave a virtuous smile after recycling everything.
adjectivecomparableold-fashioned
Chaste, especially said of a woman in older writing.
Grammar: Dated use: a virtuous maiden.
Patterns
- a virtuous woman
The novel's heroine is a virtuous young woman.
In the old tale, the virtuous maid refuses the lord's advances.
Society once prized virtuous behavior in daughters.
Word forms
| comparative | more virtuous |
|---|---|
| superlative | most virtuous |
Common combinations
- virtuous life
- He led a virtuous life.
- virtuous circle
- Better service leads to more customers, creating a virtuous circle.
- feel virtuous
- I feel virtuous when I skip dessert.
- virtuous behavior
- The teacher praised her virtuous behavior.
- virtuous person
- A virtuous person helps others without seeking reward.
Synonyms and how they differ
- moral
- Moral is wider and simply means connected with right and wrong, while virtuous means actually behaving well.
- upright
- Upright stresses honesty and decency, and sounds a little warmer than virtuous.
- righteous
- Righteous often suggests a self-assured, sometimes preachy moral certainty.
- saintly
- Saintly suggests an almost holy level of goodness, which is more than virtuous.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: virtuous or virtual?
virtuous vs virtual
Virtual means existing on a computer or almost true, with no link to moral goodness.
Practice
The mayor was admired as a ______ man who never took bribes and always told the truth.
Choose one answer.
Virtuous means morally good, which fits refusing bribes. Virtual is a lookalike unrelated to morals.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “virtuous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.