virtuous

Full of virtue; having excellent moral character.

Adjective

  1. Full of virtue; having excellent moral character.
    • Successful communities need strong, selfless leaders and a virtuous people.
    • Her virtuous, pale-blue, saucerlike eyes flooded with leviathan tears on unexpected occasions and made Yossarian mad. - 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and...

    Synonyms: good righteous virtual

Origin

From Middle English vertuous, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vertuous, vertous, ultimately from Late Latin virtuōsus, from Latin virtūs. By surface analysis, virtue + -ous. Doublet of virtuoso and piecewise doublet of virtùous.

Forms

more virtuous most virtuous vertuous vertuus virtuose

Synonyms

chaste continent correct delicate decent decorous desertful deserving dutiful duteous good honest innocent meritorious modest moral noble right right-minded righteous straight uprighteous virtual virtuous

Antonyms

bad dishonest immodest immoral incontinent indecent obscene reprehensible risque shameless unchaste wicked

Hypernyms

pure valid

Hyponyms

admirable exemplary excellent matchless peerless sterling creditable commendable laudable praiseworthy sanctimonious angelic devout godlike godly heaven-born pious religious reverent reverential saintly saint-like seraphic

Related

virtual virtue virtuosity hero goodness model

Derived

virtuous circle virtuous cycle virtuous spiral virtuous couch virtuousness pseudovirtuous