righteous

adjective

righ·​teous ˈrī-chəs 

1

: acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin

a righteous person

leads a righteous life

2

a

: morally right or justifiable

a righteous decision/judgment/cause

… the movie takes a righteous approach vis-à-vis this Catholic sect's transgressions.

—Peter Debruge

b

: arising from an outraged sense of justice or morality

righteous indignation

Let betrayal forge our resolve. … In this extraordinary moment, righteous anger is not only justified—it is necessary.

—Tony D'Andrea

3

slang : genuine, excellent

righteously adverb

righteousness noun

Synonyms of righteous

• honorable
• ethical
• honest
• true
• nice
• good
• moral

Choose the Right Synonym for righteous

moral, ethical, virtuous, righteous, noble mean conforming to a standard of what is right and good.

moral implies conformity to established sanctioned codes or accepted notions of right and wrong.

the basic moral values of a community

ethical may suggest the involvement of more difficult or subtle questions of rightness, fairness, or equity.

committed to the highest ethical principles

virtuous implies moral excellence in character.

not a religious person, but virtuous nevertheless

righteous stresses guiltlessness or blamelessness and often suggests the sanctimonious.

wished to be righteous before God and the world

noble implies moral eminence and freedom from anything petty, mean, or dubious in conduct and character.

had the noblest of reasons for seeking office

Examples of righteous in a Sentence

The mix of Yorkshire-inherited bluntness and a caustic, chirpy South London cynicism (vividly parodied and perhaps too endearingly celebrated in the voice of Dora Chance, narrator of Wise Children) stops her from sounding righteous or dogmatic. —Hermione Lee, Times Literary Supplement, 19 June 1992

I didn't know until long after I was grown that Grandpa Durham—that stern and righteous Baptist—sometimes made persimmon beer and cooled it in the cistern. —Jim W. Corder, Chronicle of a Small Town, 1989

He was foreman at Lyman's North End foundry, the largest stove-making foundry in the city, and had risen in eleven years, despite his lung ailment, from apprentice to moulder to chief grievance spokesman, a voice of righteous reason from below. —William Kennedy, Harper's, March 1988

The Believers tried to lead a simple, righteous life, practicing pacifism and confession of sins and recognizing the equality of all humankind. —Robert P. Emlen, Natural History, September 1987

a righteous man can be trusted to act honorably regardless of the circumstances

righteous behavior is its own reward

Recent Examples on the Web

The Los Angeles quartet will be the first to square their righteous politics with the day-to-day realities of making their band financially sustainable. —Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork, 7 Jan. 2026

This, in turn, reinforced Webster’s own initial claim about his fight with the MPD cop—that Rathbun had provoked the encounter by striking him in the head, then lied about it to counter Webster’s righteous assertion of self-defense, resulting in his wrongful conviction. —Jamie Thompson, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026

At the core of this extremism is the dangerous view that the founders viewed aggrieved citizens who attack the government through armed violence as righteous patriots, rather than the enemies of the state. —Douglas Letter, Time, 6 Jan. 2026

My parents had no idea what to do with that righteous anger. —Robert Sullivan, New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

alteration of earlier rightuous, alteration of Middle English rightwise, rightwos, from Old English rihtwīs, from riht, noun, right + wīs wise

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing righteous

• self-righteous

Rhymes for righteous

• unrighteous

Kids Definition

righteous

adjective

righ·​teous ˈrī-chəs 

1

: acting rightly : upright

2

a

: according to what is right

righteous actions

b

: caused by an insult to one's sense of what is right

righteous anger

righteously adverb

righteousness noun