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

Every policy debate becomes a morality play. —Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2026

But if the public takeaway is only simply that Stonepeak is the bad guy, that turns this conversation into a morality play instead of a governance reform movement. —Chicago Tribune, 28 May 2026

This may be more true in the United States than in our country, because the United States was founded as a kind of moral project, and therefore [there’s] the sense that history can operate as a morality play. —Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 25 May 2026

McMahon likes to remind scolds that wrestling is a morality play. —Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for morality play

• cyperaceae
• immunoassay
• rubiaceae
• umbelliferae
• aaa
• alleyway
• alumnae
• anime
• anyway
• arete
• attache
• axillae

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)