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

What follows is an unexpected morality play surrounding not only the complications of bringing Rajesh’s actions to light, but also Maitri’s unsavory methods that sparked this violent eruption, which rest on her bringing harm to another, equally vulnerable woman. —Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 17 June 2025

Everybody is an adaptation of a 15th-century morality play; the actors take turns, assigned by lottery, playing the various characters. —Adam Moss, Vulture, 30 May 2025

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

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)