rectitude
6
8.8
- noun
- /ˈrɛktɪˌtud/
- Formal
:
rectitud
- To achieve good governance, leaders are expected to exercise their broad powers with moral rectitude.
- moral rectitude
Where is this rectitude within a human being?
- Where is this rectitude within a human being?
- He's just talking about rightness or rectitude per SE.
Examples
-
Whatever his lapses from rectitude, we need not deem him a bad person.
Academic text (1997) -
What about a thundering call to moral rectitude, of the sort we associate with Gandhi or King?
Blog text (5) -
Where is this rectitude within a human being?
-
And then after the war, there was a sort of rectitude in a process that was followed.
-
Where does dignity end and rectitude begin?
-
"Miss Swan might teach them something of moral rectitude.
-
And thus they have power over others, the power that comes with self-righteousness and moral rectitude.
Academic text (1992) -
Gautier suggested that the artist wanted his robust personification of Force to express moral rectitude rather than physical strength.
Academic text (2004) -
Unlike the vengeance-is-mine attitude of so many prosecutors, Spencer, 44, exuded rectitude and decency.
Academic text (2007) -
His defenders say it demonstrates the moral rectitude he has shown throughout his career.
Synonyms
447
4.3
Being honest and doing what is right
83
6.5
Being good and fair in how you act
82
1.0
Kind, honest, and fair behaviour in a person
6
5.1
A state of being morally good and fair in actions
1
5.6
Being honest and doing the right thing
1
5.7
A state of being fair and morally right
1
6.9
Being honest and doing what is right
A quality of being honest and fair that earns respect
Being morally and legally correct and fair
Antonyms
How Righteous
Surface Forms
Morphology
rectitude = rect + itude
The root 'rect' is a Latin combining form not a standalone English word and the nominalizing suffix '-itude' is formal; an average B1 learner would not reliably derive 'moral righteousness' from these components.
Etymology
Rectitude comes from the Latin root rect meaning 'straight'. You can see the same idea in words like rectify ('make right') and direct ('straight to'), so think of a life that stays straight and does not bend — that image helps you remember that rectitude means moral 'rightness' and honesty.