virtuous

vir·tu·ous
V4I1R1T1U1O1U1S1
UK/ˈvɜːt͡ʃʊəs/US/ˈvɝt͡ʃuəs/

adjective

Full of virtue; having excellent moral character.

“Successful communities need strong, selfless leaders and a virtuous people.”

Similar
goodrighteousvirtualchastecontinentcorrectupstandingdelicate
Opposite
baddishonestimmodestimmoralincontinent
OriginMiddle English vertuous ← Anglo-Norman vertuous ← Late Latin virtuōsus →
Less commonScrabble 11
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Meanings

adjectivevirtuous (comparative more virtuous, superlative most virtuous)

comparative more virtuous · superlative most virtuous · alternative obsolete vertuous · alternative obsolete vertuus · alternative obsolete virtuose

  1. Full of virtue; having excellent moral character.

    Successful communities need strong, selfless leaders and a virtuous people.

    1 more example

    Her virtuous, pale-blue, saucerlike eyes flooded with leviathan tears on unexpected occasions and made Yossarian mad.

    1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171

    Synonyms: good, righteous, virtual, chaste, continent, correct, upstanding, delicate

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveFull of virtue; having excellent moral character.

Similar
goodrighteousvirtualchastecontinentcorrectupstandingdelicatedecentdecorousdesertfuldeservingdutifulduteousgoodhonestinnocentmeritoriousmodestmoral
Opposite
baddishonestimmodestimmoralincontinentindecentobscenereprehensiblerisqueshamelessunchastewicked

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivemorally excellent

Similar
impeccableimpeccantinnocentsinless
Opposite
wicked

adjectivein a state of sexual virginity

Similar
purevestalvirginvirginalchaste
Also see
impeccableimpeccantinnocentmoralpuresinlessvestalvirginvirginalvirtual

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinvirtūs
  2. Late Latinvirtuōsus
  3. Anglo-Normanvertuous
  4. Middle Englishvertuous
  5. Englishvirtuous

From Middle English vertuous, borrowed from Anglo-Norman vertuous, vertous, ultimately from Late Latin virtuōsus, from Latin virtūs. By surface analysis, virtue + -ous. Doublet of virtuoso and piecewise doublet of virtùous.

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Late Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἐνάρετος
  • ἐνάρετος (enáretos)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Arabic فَاضِل
  • فَاضِل (fāḍil)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Bengali নেক, ফাজেল
  • নেক (nek)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • ফাজেল (fazel)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Bulgarian доброде́телен, целомъ́дрен
  • доброде́телен (dobrodételen)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • целомъ́дрен (celomắdren)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Catalan virtuós
  • virtuósfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Chinese Mandarin 有道德的, 有德行的
  • 有道德的 (yǒu dàodé de)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • 有德行的 (yǒu déxíng de)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • 貞 /贞 (zhēn)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Czech ctnostný
  • ctnostnýfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Danish dydig
  • dydigfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Dutch deugdzaam
  • deugdzaamfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Esperanto virta
  • virtafull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Finnish hyveellinen
  • hyveellinenfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
French vertueux
  • vertueuxfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
German züchtig, tugendhaft
  • züchtigfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • tugendhaftfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • tugendsamfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Greek ηθικός, ενάρετος
  • ηθικός (ithikós)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • ενάρετος (enáretos)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Italian virtuoso
  • virtuosofull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Japanese 徳の高い
  • 徳の高い (toku no takai)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Latin probus
  • probusfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Latvian tikumīgs, šķīsts
  • tikumīgsfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • šķīstsfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Māori tapatahi, ngākaupai
  • tapatahifull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • ngākaupaifull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Norwegian Bokmål dydig
  • dydigfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Polish cnotliwy
  • cnotliwyfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Portuguese virtuoso, nobre
  • virtuosofull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • nobrefull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • dignofull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Romanian virtuos
  • virtuosfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Russian доброде́тельный, целому́дренный
  • доброде́тельный (dobrodételʹnyj)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • целому́дренный (celomúdrennyj)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Slovak cnostný
  • cnostnýfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Spanish virtuoso
  • virtuosofull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Swedish dygdig, dygdesam
  • dygdigfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • dygdesamfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Turkish erdemli, faziletli
  • erdemlifull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • faziletlifull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Ukrainian доброче́сний, цнотли́вий
  • доброче́сний (dobročésnyj)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • цнотли́вий (cnotlývyj)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • чеснотли́вий (česnotlývyj)full of virtue; having excellent moral character
Vietnamese có đạo đức, có đức hạnh
  • có đạo đứcfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • có đức hạnhfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • tiết hạnhfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
  • đoan chínhfull of virtue; having excellent moral character
Cite this entry
APA

virtuous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/virtuous

MLA

“virtuous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/virtuous. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “virtuous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/virtuous.

Source: virtuous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.