virtue
22
4.4
- noun
- /ˈvɜr.tʃu/
- Archaic
- The natural consequence of her chastity and virtue prevails over my louche and decadent vanity and caprice.
- womanly virtue
- feminine virtue
- moral virtue
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Watch on YouTubeIf lust is a sin in heaven, it must be a virtue in hell.
- If lust is a sin in heaven, it must be a virtue in hell.
- That's that's what he'll do his whole life going to go to war with that in your feminine virtue, toxic masculinity.
- So in the past, virtue would be something like being loyal to your partner, not, you know, being, being faithful, not being promiscuous.
Examples
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Your sister would not have her virtue if not for the protection given by my brother.
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Well, then your virtue is quite safe with me.
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I come from a very conservative family and they wanna protect... my virtue.
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Don't feel bad about losing your virtue.
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You're lucky to find a husband at all with no fortune no family and no virtue left.
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Miss Day was jilted some years later, we heard, her virtue lost and her reputation ruined.
Fiction book (1995) -
Still maintaining her view of her own virtue, Emilie tries to save face.
Academic text (1990) -
A paradigm of chastity and virtue.
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The moral of this tale is that a wife's virtue may add to her husband's karma and so protect him.
Fiction book (2000) -
In many cultures, preserving a young woman's virtue is seen as a sign of her family's honor.
Synonyms
36
8.1
A state in which a person does not have sex, often for religious or moral reasons
19
3.3
The state of not having had sex, often used about women
12
9.9
A woman's reputation for sexual purity in older times
1
5.9
A woman's not having sex before marriage
1
6.0
The state of having honest thoughts and actions
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Formal
1
8.9
One of the four main moral qualities: careful thinking, fairness, self-control, and courage
- Specialized
1
9.9
God-given gifts of faith, hope, or love that help people be saved
- Formal
1
9.9
A moral quality people can have by nature, not given by God, like justice
How Chaste
Surface Forms
Etymology
Virtue later came to mean 'chastity' or 'sexual purity' because people long ago linked moral 'strength' with control of sexual behaviour, often especially for women. So when older stories talk about a woman's virtue being tested, they usually mean her sexual purity.