as in innocently
with purity of thought and deed
a politician who is in the habit of acting legally without behaving morally
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Recent Examples of morally
The system claims ethically to create security and trust while morally destabilizing identity continuity and socially displacing human judgment with procedural authority.
—
Hamilton Mann, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Europe’s newfound openness to African industrialization is not because dependency suddenly became morally objectionable, but because Europe increasingly fears dependency itself.
—W. Gyude Moore, semafor.com, 25 May 2026
Utterly stupid, morally wrong, take your pick.
—ABC News, 24 May 2026
Holding multiple truths does not require treating them as morally equivalent.
—Michael W. Sonnenfeldt, The Atlantic, 20 May 2026
Featuring alongside Bettany is James Spader, reprising his role as supervillain Ultron, as well as Todd Stashwick as Paladin, a morally gray mercenary who acts as an assassin targeting Vision’s technology, and Faran Tahir, who is once again playing Raza, the Ten Rings leader from 2008’s Iron Man.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 16 May 2026
The Vatican and the Constitution show the way morally and legally.
—Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post, 14 May 2026
Series two will expand the tense, morally complex world of Prisoner, with Amber back in uniform — but not back to normal.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2026
By upending decades-old international trade norms and security alliances – not to mention launching a war with Iran that seems to have benefited almost no one – Trump is seen by many to have helped China score not only strategically but even morally.
—Steven Jiang, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
Hamilton Mann, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
Europe’s newfound openness to African industrialization is not because dependency suddenly became morally objectionable, but because Europe increasingly fears dependency itself.
—W. Gyude Moore, semafor.com, 25 May 2026
Utterly stupid, morally wrong, take your pick.
—ABC News, 24 May 2026
Holding multiple truths does not require treating them as morally equivalent.
—Michael W. Sonnenfeldt, The Atlantic, 20 May 2026
Featuring alongside Bettany is James Spader, reprising his role as supervillain Ultron, as well as Todd Stashwick as Paladin, a morally gray mercenary who acts as an assassin targeting Vision’s technology, and Faran Tahir, who is once again playing Raza, the Ten Rings leader from 2008’s Iron Man.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 16 May 2026
The Vatican and the Constitution show the way morally and legally.
—Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post, 14 May 2026
Series two will expand the tense, morally complex world of Prisoner, with Amber back in uniform — but not back to normal.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2026
By upending decades-old international trade norms and security alliances – not to mention launching a war with Iran that seems to have benefited almost no one – Trump is seen by many to have helped China score not only strategically but even morally.
—Steven Jiang, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for morally
Adverb
-
There’s a particularly tragic scene where Natalia, lured on holiday by Elsa, spots a small child innocently giggling at the table across from her at dinner.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
15 May 2026
-
For the person who innocently took her rugby kit to the hospital four years ago, representing her country would feel like a just reward for Balogun’s perseverance and strength of will.—
George Ramsay,
New York Times,
7 May 2026
Adverb
-
The Nuvolari is essentially an evolution of the Concept C (which was previously touted as purely electric) that wowed last year, down to the color.—
Jerry Perez,
The Drive,
4 June 2026
-
The act of doing so for purely partisan purposes has been ruled constitutional by the courts.—
David M. Drucker,
Twin Cities,
3 June 2026
Adverb
-
Supervisors have awarded grants to groups that have run afoul of state rules for charities, and some grants have lacked documentation showing they were properly spent.—
Kristen Taketa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2026
-
One of the most common is blossom end rot, which can also be avoided by properly caring for your plants.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
31 May 2026
Adverb
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Some of us virtuously recycle items that will be transported across the world to smother island nations in single-use plastic bags and water bottles, milk jugs, yogurt tubs, pet food and potato chip bags, Styrofoam meat trays, Coke bottles, Amazon mailing envelopes, and fast-food wrappers.—
Caroline Fraser,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The glorious sweep of progress toward Roman civilization and prosperity means the end of an idyllic, virtuously rustic Golden Age.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
The darkly comic crime drama pits Frances McDormand's righteously furious mom against a police force that hasn't caught her daughter's killer.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 Mar. 2026
-
But O’Hara is best known for her role as Kate McCallister in Home Alone, the distracted, frantic, righteously determined mom to Macaulay Culkin’s precocious 8-year-old Kevin.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Morally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/morally. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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