virtuous

adjective vir·tu·ous \ ˈvər-chə-wəs , ˈvərch-wəs \

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: virtuous in a Sentence

Definition of virtuous

1 a : having or exhibiting virtue

b : morally excellent : righteous

a virtuous decision

2 : chaste

3 : potent, efficacious

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virtuously

adverb

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virtuousness

noun

See virtuous defined for English-language learners

See virtuous defined for kids

Examples of virtuous in a Sentence

In a kind of virtuous circle, the "second tier" schools got better as applications rose and they could become choosier in assembling a class—which in turn raised the quality of the whole experience on campus and made the school more attractive to both topflight professors and the next wave of applicants. —Nancy Gibbs et al., Time, 21 Aug. 2006
In its quest to create ice cream as voluptuous as butter and as virtuous as broccoli, the ice cream industry has probed the depths of the Arctic Ocean, studied the intimate structures of algae and foisted numerous failures on the American public. —Julia Moskin, New York Times, 26 July 2006
Children born into high-income households become part of a virtuous circle of success. Parents with university degrees tend to earn more, set higher educational goals for their children, and invest more time in the children's schooling than parents who have a high-school education or less. —Laura D'Andrea Tyson, BusinessWeek, 7 July 2003
We redefined virtue as health. And considering the probable state of our souls, this was not a bad move. By relocating the seat of virtue from the soul to the pecs, the abs and the coronary arteries, we may not have become the most virtuous people on earth, but we surely became the most desperate for grace. We spend $5 billion a year on our health-club memberships, $2 billion on vitamins, nearly $1 billion on home exercise equipment, and $6 billion on sneakers to wear out on our treadmills and StairMasters. —Barbara Ehrenreich, Utne Reader, May/June 1992
She felt that she had made a virtuous decision by donating the money to charity.
virtuous behavior is its own reward

Recent Examples of virtuous from the Web

The Monkees were history’s most famous made-for-TV band, a virtuous counter to ’60s counterculture.

— allison stewart, chicagotribune.com, "Hey, hey, it's the Monkees, coming to this town," 7 June 2018
There will be no final judgment in which the virtuous are given power and the wicked are damned.

— dylan matthews, Vox, "Stop making second American Civil War clickbait," 1 June 2018
George Newman and Joshua Knobe, both at Yale University, have found that people typically think humans harbor a true self that is virtuous.

— steve ayan, Scientific American, "10 Things You Don’t Know About Yourself," 15 May 2018
Undying love for the hometown team might be virtuous.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Paul Daugherty: It's more than OK to jump on a bandwagon, Cincinnati Reds and Bengals fans," 26 Apr. 2018
What better way to mess with fan expectations than to leave the ever-virtuous Cap alive, and subvert the entire fan guessing game by killing off Tom Hiddleston’s character instead?

— tasha robinson, The Verge, "What’s the secret title of Avengers: Infinity War 2?," 6 Apr. 2018
Everyone is more virtuous than you, exercising more than you, running faster than you, rising for more sunrises than you, improving themselves more than you.

— elizabeth barber, WIRED, "What Happens When You Track Your Boyfriend on Strava," 27 Mar. 2018
But not all countries and peoples share in this virtuous cycle equally.

— ian bremmer, Time, "Our 'Us Vs Them' World: 5 Reasons Why Globalism Is Failing," 4 May 2018
The creation of a successful drug often leads to a virtuous cycle of further insights into disease mechanisms and the next generation of treatments.

— r. allan purdy, Scientific American, "Can Anything Stop My Migraine?," 1 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'virtuous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of virtuous

see virtue

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 3

See Words from the same year

virtuous Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of virtuous

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.