sense of duty
11
3.8
- noun
- /sɛns əv ˈduːti/
:
sentido del deber
- His account expresses the Vietnam veteran's ambivalence and confusion, his sense of duty and betrayal.
- a strong sense of duty
- felt a sense of duty
We don't just have an abstract sense of duty, moral obligation.
- We don't just have an abstract sense of duty, moral obligation.
- And we need to be more prepared and we all need to, to really tap into our sense of duty, which is lacking in this country.
- Guilt, obligation, misplaced sense of duty.
- But it's look, I mean, I say in the book, you know, some people Don these sacred robes out of a sense of duty and some people Don them as a disguise.
- There's reasons of culture, reasons of other people in my family that matter to me, my own sense of duty and obligation and responsibility.
Examples
-
I don't think it's wrong to feel a sense of duty.
-
Michael was reluctant to inherit the business, but he did so out of a sense of duty to his family.
Academic text (2014) -
Where was your sense of duty then?
-
I leave the rest to your sense of duty.
-
I felt nothing but a sense of duty.
Academic text (2013) -
I truly admire your sense of duty, marshal.
-
Even as he mourns, his sense of duty and service is clear.
-
Their earlier motivation and sense of duty were equally impressive but less understandable.
Academic text (1996) -
Such occurrences highlight not only the strong sense of duty but also the ensuing heartache.
Academic text (1993) -
The soldier went into battle driven by a strong sense of duty to his country.
Synonyms
∞
2.7
A duty to do something and answer for what you do
∞
1.0
Something you must do because of law, your job, or what is right
524
3.2
A duty you feel to do something because it is right or someone helped you
28
4.9
A duty you feel because something is right or wrong
17
3.2
Feeling that you must do something or look after someone
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'sense' (a feeling or awareness) combined with 'duty' (a responsibility) linked by 'of' yields 'a feeling of responsibility,' which a B1 learner who knows the parts can readily infer. This is a common, cross-linguistic noun phrase pattern (feeling/awareness + of + responsibility), so the expression is immediately comprehensible from its constituents.
Etymology
Sense of duty comes from the simple image of an inner feeling that tells you to do what you should. Sense means a feeling and duty means a job or responsibility, so the phrase means you feel you 'must act' or 'do the right thing'.