as in advantage
a quality that gives something special worth
the cardinal virtue of wool is that it retains its insulating properties even when wet
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Recent Examples of cardinal virtue
Tolerance became the cardinal virtue of modern liberalism, but tolerance cannot sustain a civilization.
—
Carolyn McKinney, Boston Herald, 22 Sep. 2025
Practical wisdom, justice, and AI The cardinal virtues of practical wisdom and justice are the habits for deciding, fairly, what needs to be done.
—Andrew Abela, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
Aquinas also noted that each of these four cardinal virtues had several smaller virtues associated with them.
—Andrew Abela, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024
Doubt is a cardinal virtue in the sciences, which advance through skeptics’ willingness to question the experts.
—Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2020
Breaching tennis’ cardinal virtues of self-sufficiency and autonomy, the coach begins by telling this emotional woman to calm down.
—Jon Wertheim, SI.com, 11 Apr. 2018
Dialogue is one of their cardinal virtues, and most seemed determined to give Trump a hearing.
—Time, 25 Jan. 2018
Carolyn McKinney, Boston Herald, 22 Sep. 2025
Practical wisdom, justice, and AI The cardinal virtues of practical wisdom and justice are the habits for deciding, fairly, what needs to be done.
—Andrew Abela, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
Aquinas also noted that each of these four cardinal virtues had several smaller virtues associated with them.
—Andrew Abela, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024
Doubt is a cardinal virtue in the sciences, which advance through skeptics’ willingness to question the experts.
—Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2020
Breaching tennis’ cardinal virtues of self-sufficiency and autonomy, the coach begins by telling this emotional woman to calm down.
—Jon Wertheim, SI.com, 11 Apr. 2018
Dialogue is one of their cardinal virtues, and most seemed determined to give Trump a hearing.
—Time, 25 Jan. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cardinal virtue
Noun
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Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez was dead against the idea, with his club arguing that breaking the traditional home and away format adulterated the competition, while also expressing concern over participating teams gaining a financial advantage.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Legalized betting has certain security advantages in that unusual betting patterns — such as large bets being placed on a random player’s performance — can be immediately flagged.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The biggest distinction is that symptoms leading up to menopause last for a much longer time, while postpartum symptoms will lessen over weeks and months post-birth.—
Melissa Willets,
Parents,
27 Oct. 2025
-
With that distinction in mind, though, the Smithsonian's communications with Congress might not be considered lobbying, as the lawmakers' letter accuses.—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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By upholding his virtue and revealing the emptiness of evil, Ignatius Maloyan earned sainthood, joining the enduring Communion of witnesses.—
Jenni Fink,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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Running is a means of developing all these good virtues and habits.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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And neither Mann nor Lockwood sees much value in the current, large-scale practice of releasing live larvae or young oysters into the bay.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
31 Oct. 2025
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Disney wants higher carriage fees to reflect the value of its networks, such as ESPN.—
Liam Reilly,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The movie's title and poster have become memes on social media, although some online circles have reappraised its merits in recent years.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
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This is achieved by combining the merits of high-speed electronics and microwave photonics technologies.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cardinal virtue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cardinal%20virtue. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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