- characterized by or possessing virtue or moral excellence; righteous; upright
- archaic (of women) chaste or virginal
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
vir•tu•ous /ˈvɜrtʃuəs/USA pronunciation
adj.
vir•tu•ous•ness, n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Philosophyagreeing with or following moral and ethical principles;
morally excellent;
upright. - chaste:a virtuous young woman.
vir•tu•ous•ness, n. [uncountable]
vir•tu•ous
(vûr′cho̅o̅ əs),USA pronunciation adj.
vir′tu•ous•ly, adv.
vir′tu•ous•ness, n.
- Philosophyconforming to moral and ethical principles;
morally excellent;
upright:Lead a virtuous life. - chaste:a virtuous young person.
- Late Latin virtuōsus, equivalent. to Latin virtu(s) virtue + -ōsus -ous
- Anglo-French
- Latin) of Middle English vertuous
- alteration (with i 1300–50
vir′tu•ous•ness, n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
virtuous /ˈvɜːtʃʊəs/ adj
'virtuous' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Boxer
- Galahad
- good
- goody-goody
- holy
- ingenuous
- probity
- righteous
- squeaky-clean
- suttee
- virtuoso
- works
- Amphitryon
- angel
- better
- bicorn
- chaste
- Chichivache
- clean
- ethical
- honest
- Horatio Alger
- hypocrisy
- innocent
- modest
- moral
- morality
- Mr. Clean
- nice
- pure
- quasi-virtuous
- unchaste
- unrighteous
- white hat
- wicked
- straight
- straight and narrow