morality play

noun

1

: an allegorical play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries in which the characters personify abstract qualities or concepts (such as virtues, vices, or death)

2

: something (such as a court trial) which involves a direct conflict between right and wrong or good and evil and from which a moral lesson may be drawn

Examples of morality play in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These distortions reduce a complex conflict to a morality play. —U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Apr. 2025

But the set, in which Dylan played the electric guitar and embraced rock ’n’ roll publicly, was more complicated than a morality play pitting backward folk purists against forward-looking rockers. —Grant Wong, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Dec. 2024

Both saw foreign policy as a morality play pitting good against evil. —Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024

In Elia Kazan's still-explosive working-class morality play about a palooka-turned-longshoreman who stands up to union-boss corruption on the docks, Brando is both hypnotic and heartbreakingly human. —EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for morality play

• asteraceae
• cyperaceae
• immunoassay
• rubiaceae
• umbelliferae
• aaa
• adonais
• alleyway
• alumnae
• anime
• anyway
• arete

Kids Definition

morality play

noun

: a type of play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries in which the characters stand for moral qualities (as virtue or vice) or conditions (as death)