Antonyms for virtue


Grammar : Noun
Spell : vur-choo
Phonetic Transcription : ˈvɜr tʃu


Definition of virtue

Origin :
  • early 13c., "moral life and conduct, moral excellence," vertu, from Anglo-French and Old French vertu, from Latin virtutem (nominative virtus) "moral strength, manliness, valor, excellence, worth," from vir "man" (see virile).
  • For my part I honour with the name of virtue the habit of acting in a way troublesome to oneself and useful to others. [Stendhal "de l'Amour," 1822]
  • Phrase by virtue of (early 13c.) preserves alternative Middle English sense of "efficacy." Wyclif Bible has virtue where KJV uses power. The seven cardinal virtues (early 14c.) were divided into the natural (justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude) and the theological (hope, faith, charity). To make a virtue of a necessity (late 14c.) translates Latin facere de necessitate virtutem [Jerome].
  • noun honor, integrity
Example sentences :
  • Let young men hear the praise of virtue from the lips of beauty.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • I asked him what reward the Helots had for bravery or virtue.
  • Extract from : « Philothea » by Lydia Maria Child
  • Who, that has once trespassed with them, ever recovered his virtue?
  • Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson
  • She made a virtue of necessity; and the man was quite another man with her. '
  • Extract from : « Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9) » by Samuel Richardson
  • It is their virtue in life to be lonely, and none but the lonely man in tragedy may be great.
  • Extract from : « Riders to the Sea » by J. M. Synge
  • Can it be that the rarity of this virtue in England has to do with our living in a straitened island?
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • They are presented as good and evil, as vice and virtue, as villainy and heroism.
  • Extract from : « A Treatise on Parents and Children » by George Bernard Shaw
  • And Laertes says that "virtue itself" cannot escape calumny.
  • Extract from : « The Man Shakespeare » by Frank Harris
  • His affection for Cassius is not a virtue to one in especial.
  • Extract from : « The Man Shakespeare » by Frank Harris
  • Talk with Simba, with my men, and know what virtue is in my magic.
  • Extract from : « The Leopard Woman » by Stewart Edward White

Synonyms for virtue

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019