Virtuous English AcademyEthics & Virtue — C1 English Vocabulary
This C1 vocabulary list gathers 60 advanced English words about ethics & virtue — right, wrong and moral nuance. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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amoral/ˌeɪˈmɔː.rəl/
Not concerned with right or wrong.
“Markets are essentially amoral.”
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unethical/ʌnˈeθ.ɪ.kəl/
Not morally correct.
“It was an unethical practice.”
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iniquity/ɪˈnɪk.wɪ.ti/
Great injustice or wickedness.
“He railed against iniquity.”
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probity/ˈprəʊ.bɪ.ti/
Complete honesty and integrity.
“His probity is beyond doubt.”
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scruple/ˈskruː.pəl/
A feeling that stops you doing something wrong.
“He has no scruple about it.”
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high-minded/ˌhaɪ ˈmaɪn.dɪd/
Having strong moral principles.
“She is high-minded and fair.”
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righteousness/ˈraɪ.tʃəs.nəs/
The quality of being morally right.
“He spoke with righteousness.”
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sanctimonious/ˌsæŋk.tɪˈməʊ.ni.əs/
Pretending to be morally better than others.
“His tone was sanctimonious.”
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hypocrisy/hɪˈpɒk.rɪ.si/
Pretending to have morals you do not have.
“They exposed his hypocrisy.”
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duplicity/djuːˈplɪs.ɪ.ti/
Deceitful behaviour meant to trick people.
“Her duplicity was shocking.”
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deceitful/dɪˈsiːt.fəl/
Dishonest and misleading.
“He gave a deceitful answer.”
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candour/ˈkæn.də/
The quality of being open and honest.
“She spoke with refreshing candour.”
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incorruptible/ˌɪn.kəˈrʌp.tɪ.bəl/
Impossible to bribe or make dishonest.
“The judge is incorruptible.”
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impeccable/ɪmˈpek.ə.bəl/
Perfect, with no faults.
“Her conduct was impeccable.”
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exemplary/ɪɡˈzem.plər.i/
So good it serves as a model.
“He set an exemplary standard.”
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reprehensible/ˌrep.rɪˈhen.sɪ.bəl/
Deserving strong criticism.
“The act was reprehensible.”
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deplorable/dɪˈplɔː.rə.bəl/
Very bad and deserving disapproval.
“The conditions are deplorable.”
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condone/kənˈdəʊn/
To accept behaviour that is wrong.
“We cannot condone violence.”
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censure/ˈsen.ʃə/
To criticise someone strongly and formally.
“The board issued a censure.”
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absolve/əbˈzɒlv/
To free someone from blame or guilt.
“New facts may absolve her of blame.”
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blameworthy/ˈbleɪm.wɜː.ði/
Deserving blame.
“He is the most blameworthy.”
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remorseful/rɪˈmɔːs.fəl/
Feeling deep regret for wrongdoing.
“She felt remorseful afterwards.”
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penance/ˈpen.əns/
An act done to show sorrow for wrongdoing.
“He did penance for the sin.”
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atone/əˈtəʊn/
To make up for a wrong you have done.
“He tried to atone for the lie.”
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redemption/rɪˈdemp.ʃən/
The act of being saved from sin or fault.
“The film is about redemption.”
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salvation/sælˈveɪ.ʃən/
The saving of someone from harm or sin.
“They sought spiritual salvation.”
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piety/ˈpaɪ.ə.ti/
Strong religious devotion.
“Her piety was well known.”
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devout/dɪˈvaʊt/
Deeply religious.
“He is a devout believer.”
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benevolence/bəˈnev.əl.əns/
Kindness and a wish to do good.
“His benevolence helped many.”
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malevolence/məˈlev.əl.əns/
The wish to do harm to others.
“There was malevolence in his eyes.”
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malice/ˈmæl.ɪs/
The desire to harm someone.
“She bore him no malice.”
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spite/spaɪt/
The wish to hurt or annoy someone.
“He did it out of spite.”
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vindictive/vɪnˈdɪk.tɪv/
Wanting revenge; unforgiving.
“Her response was vindictive.”
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vengeful/ˈvendʒ.fəl/
Wanting to harm someone in return.
“He felt vengeful.”
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forgiving/fəˈɡɪv.ɪŋ/
Ready to stop blaming someone.
“She has a forgiving nature.”
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merciful/ˈmɜː.sɪ.fəl/
Showing kindness towards those you could punish.
“The judge was merciful.”
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mercy/ˈmɜː.si/
Kindness shown to an offender or enemy.
“They begged for mercy.”
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barbarity/bɑːˈbær.ɪ.ti/
Extremely cruel behaviour.
“The barbarity appalled them.”
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brutality/bruːˈtæl.ɪ.ti/
Savage physical violence.
“Witnesses described the brutality.”
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magnanimity/ˌmæɡ.nəˈnɪm.ɪ.ti/
Generosity, especially towards a rival.
“He showed great magnanimity.”
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moralistic/ˌmɒr.əˈlɪs.tɪk/
Judging others by strict moral rules.
“The tone was moralistic.”
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ethos/ˈiː.θɒs/
The typical beliefs and values of a group.
“The firm has a strong ethos.”
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creed/kriːd/
A set of beliefs that guide actions.
“Honesty is his creed.”
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exculpate/ˈek.skʌl.peɪt/
To show that someone is not guilty.
“The facts exculpate the accused.”
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answerable/ˈɑːn.sər.ə.bəl/
Responsible and having to explain actions.
“Leaders are answerable to voters.”
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above board/əˌbʌv ˈbɔːd/
Honest and open.
“The deal was completely above board.”
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venal/ˈviː.nəl/
Willing to act dishonestly for money.
“The official was venal.”
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bribe/braɪb/
Money given to persuade someone to act dishonestly.
“He tried to bribe the guard.”
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graft/ɡrɑːft/
The use of dishonest means to gain money in power.
“The city was plagued by graft.”
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ethically/ˈeθ.ɪ.kəl.i/
In a morally correct way.
“They always act ethically.”
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honourable/ˈɒn.ər.ə.bəl/
Deserving respect for honesty and morals.
“It was the honourable thing to do.”
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dishonourable/dɪsˈɒn.ər.ə.bəl/
Bringing shame through wrong behaviour.
“His conduct was dishonourable.”
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saintly/ˈseɪnt.li/
Extremely good and holy.
“She led a saintly life.”
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wickedness/ˈwɪk.ɪd.nəs/
The quality of being morally bad.
“The tale warns against wickedness.”
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depravity/dɪˈpræv.ɪ.ti/
Extreme moral corruption.
“The novel depicts moral depravity.”
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decadence/ˈdek.ə.dəns/
A decline in moral standards.
“The court sank into decadence.”
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upright/ˈʌp.raɪt/
Honest and morally correct.
“He is an upright citizen.”
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scrupulously/ˈskruː.pjə.ləs.li/
In a very careful and honest way.
“She was scrupulously honest.”
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moralise/ˈmɒr.ə.laɪz/
To comment on right and wrong, often preachily.
“He likes to moralise to others.”
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goodness/ˈɡʊd.nəs/
The quality of being morally good.
“She believes in human goodness.”
Using ethics & virtue words in English
Moral vocabulary at this level turns on distinctions of one letter and one prefix. Amoral and immoral differ by whether a moral sense is absent or violated, and iniquity and inequity differ by one letter and a great deal of meaning. The page also covers sanctimonious, a word that describes the display of virtue rather than virtue itself.
What to watch out for
Amoral lacks morality; immoral breaks it
An amoral person or system operates without reference to right and wrong at all — the a- prefix means without. An immoral act violates a moral standard that is acknowledged to exist. So a market is often described as amoral, while cheating is immoral. The same a- against in- contrast shows up in apolitical and atypical.
Iniquity and inequity are not the same word
Iniquity means gross injustice or wickedness and is biblical in flavour: a den of iniquity. Inequity means unfairness in distribution and is the noun matching inequitable: inequity in healthcare access. They differ by one letter, sound alike in rapid speech, and no spellchecker will help, since both are real words.
Sanctimonious is about the display
Sanctimonious means making a show of being morally superior, and it is always an insult — it describes the performance of virtue rather than virtue itself. Self-righteous is its close synonym. Contrast probity and candour, both genuine compliments: probity is complete honesty and integrity, especially in public office, and candour is frankness, spelled with the British -our.
Words learners mix up
Moral vocabulary is where a single wrong word reverses your meaning entirely, and this page contains the most dangerous example in English: a verb that looks like condemn and means almost its opposite.
Passing moral judgement: five verbs, five directions
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| condone | To accept or overlook something wrong without objecting. It does not mean condemn, despite the resemblance — this is the reversal to fix first. | The school does not condone bullying. |
| censure | To criticise formally and publicly, usually by an official body. Both noun and verb, and stressed on the first syllable. | The committee censured two of its members. |
| absolve | To declare someone free of blame or obligation. Takes of or from, and carries a faint religious echo. | The report absolved her of any responsibility. |
| blameworthy | The adjective for deserving blame. Formal, and the natural opposite of exemplary. | His conduct was blameworthy but not criminal. |
| atone | To make amends for a wrong yourself. Intransitive and takes for — you atone for something, never atone something. | He spent years trying to atone for it. |
Because condone is usually met in the negative — we do not condone violence — learners absorb it as a condemning word and then write the report condoned his behaviour meaning the opposite of what they intend. If you mean criticise, the words here are censure, deplore or condemn.
Wanting to do harm: four shades of ill will
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| malice | The intention to harm. Uncountable, and it has a precise legal life in malice aforethought, the mental element of murder. | The letter was written with obvious malice. |
| spite | Petty desire to hurt over a small grievance, often at cost to yourself. Smaller and meaner than malice. | She refused out of pure spite. |
| vengeful | Wanting revenge for a specific wrong that was done to you. Describes a state you are in. | He returned in a vengeful mood. |
| vindictive | Revengeful as a settled character trait, and disproportionate. The strongest criticism of the four. | A vindictive campaign that lasted years. |
The scale runs from petty to systematic: spite is an impulse, vengeful a mood, vindictive a character. Malevolence sits outside the scale as the formal, literary noun for general ill will, and its opposite is benevolence.
Corruption, and the words for being clean
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| venal | Open to bribery; able to be bought. Used of officials and of the institutions they run. | A venal customs service. |
| graft | Corruption involving the use of public office for private gain — bribery and kickbacks taken as a system. | The city was notorious for graft. |
| above board | Completely honest and open, with nothing concealed. Three words, no hyphen, and normally after the verb. | The whole transaction was above board. |
| incorruptible | Impossible to bribe or corrupt. A strong compliment, and the direct antonym of venal. | A judge with a reputation for being incorruptible. |
Above board comes from card playing: hands kept above the table cannot be swapping cards underneath it. The commonest error with this set is venal for venial — see the register notes below, because those two are almost opposites.
Collocations that sound natural
Ethical vocabulary is heavily formulaic because so much of it comes from law, religion and public inquiries. These are the pairings that appear in judgments, obituaries and resignation statements.
censure
a vote of censureescape censurepublic censurecensure a member
A vote of censure is the formal parliamentary instrument. Compare a vote of no confidence, which removes rather than criticises.
scruple
have no scruples aboutmoral scrupleswithout scruplescruples about accepting
Usually plural, and overwhelmingly used in the negative: he had no scruples about taking the money. The adverb scrupulously has moved on to mean thoroughly and exactly — scrupulously clean.
probity
financial probitypersonal probitya man of probityunquestioned probity
Uncountable and almost exclusive to public life — you would not describe a friend’s probity.
candour
refreshing candourdisarming candourwith characteristic candoura lack of candour
British spelling keeps the -our; American English writes candor. The adjective is candid in both.
mercy
show mercybeg for mercyat the mercy ofan act of mercy
At the mercy of means powerless before something, and takes forces as readily as people: at the mercy of the weather.
malice
malice aforethoughtwith maliceno malice intendedbear somebody no malice
Formal, neutral or informal?
Half of this vocabulary arrived through the church and half through the courts, and both origins still show. One pair differs by a single letter and means nearly opposite things, and one word means something entirely different on each side of the Atlantic.
- venalSpelling trapDo not confuse with venial. Venal means corruptible and is a serious accusation; venial means minor and forgivable, as in the theological venial sin opposed to a mortal one. A venal official and a venial error are worlds apart.
- graftReverses across the AtlanticIn American English, political corruption. In British English the ordinary meaning is hard work — sheer hard graft — and it is entirely positive. The corruption sense is understood in Britain but the compliment is the everyday one.
- iniquityBiblicalGross wickedness, carried into English through scripture and still sounding of it: a den of iniquity. In secular argument the neutral words are injustice and wrongdoing.
- penanceReligious → secularOriginally an act of self-punishment imposed after confession. Now widely used figuratively and half-humorously: doing penance for a lost weekend. Redemption and salvation have travelled the same road.
- pietyReligiousDevotion to religious duty. Note that the adjective pious has drifted towards the critical, implying display — which is why devout is the safer compliment for genuine belief.
- magnanimityFormal · approvingGenerosity towards someone you have defeated or who has wronged you. The adjective is magnanimous, and it is one of the few unambiguous compliments in this vocabulary.
- moralisePejorativeTo lecture others about right and wrong. Always disapproving, as are moralistic and sanctimonious — none of them describes actually being good. British English spells it -ise.
- ethosFormal · neutralThe characteristic spirit of a group or institution: the school’s ethos. Greek, uncountable, and not a synonym for ethics. A creed is a stated set of beliefs, religious or otherwise.
Sentences to try
Four frames about integrity. Watch the prefixes and the one-letter difference.
- The algorithm is amoral rather than immoral.
- The report documents deep inequity in funding.
- His candour about the failure won him considerable respect.
- The editorial struck a sanctimonious tone throughout.
Questions about ethics & virtue vocabulary
What is the difference between amoral and immoral?
Amoral means operating outside morality altogether — not recognising or applying moral standards. The a- prefix, from Greek, means without, and it is used of systems, animals, infants and occasionally of people who seem to have no moral sense at all. Immoral means violating a moral standard that both speaker and subject recognise: cheating, lying, betraying a trust. The distinction matters, because calling a market amoral is an analytical claim while calling it immoral is a condemnation.
What is the difference between iniquity and inequity?
Iniquity means gross wickedness or injustice, and the word has a strong biblical and moral flavour: the iniquity of the regime, a den of iniquity. Inequity means unfairness in how something is distributed, and it is the noun corresponding to inequitable: inequity in access to treatment. They differ by a single letter and are close enough in speech to be misheard, and because both are genuine English words a spellchecker will never flag the wrong choice. If you mean unfair distribution, you need the e.
What does "sanctimonious" mean?
Making an ostentatious show of moral superiority — being smugly virtuous, or appearing to be. It is always critical, and it describes the display rather than any actual goodness: a sanctimonious editorial about other people’s failings. Its close synonyms are self-righteous, preachy and holier-than-thou. The contrast with words for genuine virtue on this list is instructive: probity, candour, righteousness and high-minded all describe the thing itself, though high-minded can tip towards mild mockery in the right context.