RIGHTEOUSNESS Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

righteousness

noun

Definition of righteousness

as in morality

conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong the laws do not always dictate righteousness, for what is legal is not always moral

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in integrity

faithfulness to high moral standards a life lived with righteousness guarantees that you will always respect yourself

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of righteousness In this meme, unfortunately for those banking on righteousness, Venom is the clear winner. — Owen Carry, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026 Hungering and thirsting for righteousness, mentioned in the fourth Beatitude, felt like trusting that right ideas are always supplied. — Liesl Ehmke, Christian Science Monitor, 7 Aug. 2026 Its righteousness and defiance; its relentless forward motion; its assumption of a common social struggle are all native to that last year before Ronald Reagan. — Lucy Sante, New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2026 The five points of the star represent the characteristics of a good citizen, which are fortitude, loyalty, righteousness, prudence, and broadmindedness. — Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 July 2026 The story follows exiled prince Rama (Ranbir Kapoor) and his consort Sita (Sai Pallavi) through exile into catastrophe, as Sita’s abduction at the hands of Ravana (Yash) sets in motion an epic war between righteousness and evil. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 July 2026 Blumenthal delivered just that—a conspiratorial account of Jewish power, American malignity, and the Islamic Republic’s righteousness. — James Kirchick, The Atlantic, 29 July 2026 Except her version of fun involves vengeance, sly righteousness and the exposure of humanity’s darker tendencies. — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026 What tendrils of righteousness, revenge, crime, and punishment tie these people together? — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for righteousness

Noun

The McLuhanite in me wants to stick to the first interpretation, in which the apparent shift in shame is a matter of morality getting funnelled through a new medium.

— Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2026
Swift was born into the Anglo-Irish Protestant elite, and the text satires both the callousness of his class and a then-ascendant approach to morality and politics that held that all aspects of life could be cooked down to a pure numerical value.

— Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of morality

Noun

The Los Angeles Community College District abruptly canceled bidding for a major student housing project after a losing bidder challenged the integrity of the process.

— Andrew Khouri, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
The court is confident in the soundness of the proceedings and the integrity of the judges.

— Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of integrity

Noun

When late summer rolls around, Taylor Fritz joins a chorus of Americans in extoling the virtues of hard courts and talking about how the North American swing is his favorite time of year.

— Ava Wallace, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Though eventually abandoned due to cost, this system of surveillance endeavored to equate producers with virtue.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of virtue

Noun

Growing up, many of us remember dutifully taking a few more bites of protein (and, of course, vegetables) to appease our moms before we were allowed to progress to the sweet, carb-heavy goodness of dessert.

— Jennifer Byrne, Popular Science, 10 Sep. 2026
Following the premiere of the second season (but before the promise of a third), Innanen spoke with Variety about Paul Baker’s arc this season, the limits of delivering sitcom goodness within an eight-episode season and his hopes for a Season 3.

— Mya Copeland, Variety, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of goodness

Noun

Cool Machine is definitive not only for its sweep but also for the rightness, the evocative precision, of the details that fill its paragraphs like the mystery mix inside the skin of a Gray’s Papaya hot dog.

— David Hajdu, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026
If the Sun is high in the lunar sky during the flyby, there will be few shadows, and the crew will be looking for subtle variations in surface color and rightness.

— Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2026

Definition of rightness

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righteously

righteousness

righter

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“Righteousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/righteousness. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of righteousness

noun

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