List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 245

SYNONYMS: moral, ethical, virtuous, righteous.
These adjectives mean in accord with principles or rules of right or good conduct.

Moral applies to personal character and behavior, especially sexual conduct, measured against prevailing standards of rectitude: The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot.
Ethical stresses conformity with idealistic standards of right and wrong, as those applicable to the practices of lawyers and doctors: The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
Virtuous implies moral excellence and loftiness of character; in a narrower sense it refers to sexual chastity: The nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
Righteous emphasizes moral uprightness and especially the absence of guilt or sin; when it is applied to actions, reactions, or impulses, it often implies justifiable outrage: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). He was stirred by righteous wrath.