ethical

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˈɛθɪkəl/ 🇺🇸 /ˈɛθɪkəl/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these; concerning what is morally right and wrong.; Morally correct or good; avoiding activities or organizations that do harm to people or the environment.; Conforming to the standards of conduct of a given profession or group.; Of or relating to the philosophical study of ethics or moral philosophy.; Denoting a drug that is available only on prescription, as opposed to one that can be bought over the counter.

🔗 Details

Word forms

Comparative: more ethical Superlative: most ethical

Collocations

ethical standardsethical behaviorethical dilemmaethical considerationsethical principlesethical issuesethical guidelines

Derivatives

ethicsethicallyunethicalethicethicistunethically

Synonyms

moralprincipledrighteousvirtuoushonorableupright

Antonyms

unethicalimmoralunprincipled

Commonly confused

ethics
EN: 'Ethics' is a noun referring to the field of study or a set of moral principles; 'ethical' is the adjective describing something as morally right.
ethic
EN: 'Ethic' is a singular noun meaning a particular set of moral values (e.g., 'work ethic'); 'ethical' is the adjective form.
moral
EN: 'Moral' often relates to personal or societal standards of right and wrong; 'ethical' tends to refer to professional or systematic codes of conduct.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'ethical' (adjective) with 'ethic' (noun) or 'ethics' (noun). Note the '-al' suffix that marks it as an adjective.

💬 Examples

  1. The committee raised several ethical questions about the experiment.

  2. She chose to buy ethical clothing from fair-trade companies.

  3. The doctor was found to have acted in an ethical manner throughout the treatment.

  4. The professor published a paper on ethical theory and utilitarianism.

  5. The pharmaceutical company primarily markets ethical drugs to hospitals and clinics.