Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of, relating to, or dealing with ethics.
- adj. Being in accordance with the accepted principles of right and wrong that govern the conduct of a profession. See Synonyms at moral.
- adj. Of or relating to a drug dispensed solely on the prescription of a physician.
- n. An ethical drug.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Relating to morals or the principles of morality; pertaining to right and wrong in the abstract or in conduct; pertaining or relating to ethics.
- In a special sense, relating to medical ethics or in accord with the code of rules which guides physicians in their relations to one another and to their patients.
Wiktionary
- adj. philosophy, not comparable Of or relating to the study of ethics.
- adj. not comparable Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some organization or profession.
- adj. comparable Morally approvable, when referring to an action that affects others; good.
- adj. of a drug, not comparable Only dispensed on the prescription of a physician.
- n. An ethical drug.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. of or relating to the philosophical study of ethics
- adj. conforming to accepted standards of social or professional behavior
- adj. adhering to ethical and moral principles
Etymologies
- From ethic + -al, from Late Latin ethicus ("moral, ethical"), from Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikos, "of or for morals, moral, expressing character"), from ἦθος (ēthos, "character, moral nature"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Thomas Baldwin was not exaggerating much when he claimed that, “twentieth century British ethical theory is unintelligible without reference to Principia Ethica; its history until 1960 or so being, in brief, that although Moore was taken to have refuted ˜ethical naturalism™, Moore's own brand of ˜ethical non-naturalism™ was thought to make unacceptable metaphysical and epistemological demands; so the only recourse was to abandon belief in an objective moral reality and accept an emotivist, prescriptivist or otherwise anti-realist, account of ethical values.””
“We have associated the term ethical with certain special acts which are labeled virtues and are set off from the mass of other acts, and are still more divorced from the habitual images and motives of the children performing them.”
“Brigham said there is no specific definition of the term ethical for the rankings.”
“Rick Perry's campaign demanding Univision "take action to correct" what it calls an "ethical breach.”
“That is one or the most important principles for judging of what I call the ethical evil of both Capitalism and Communism—for they are both essentially based on waste.”
“I have very strong opinions on this point, and hold that what I call the ethical motive for reading is the best of all -- indeed the only true one.”
“It's not likely the theme will fade before the Aug. 10 primary, however, thanks to the entry in the race of Republican turned American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo and his focus on what he calls ethical lapses on both GOP candidates 'parts.”
“It is the only way to fight against what he called ethical impairment, he said.”
“Democratic operatives with direct knowledge of the Adler campaign and CCDC operations spoke to the Courier-Post on condition of anonymity because of what they described as ethical qualms with Adler's campaign.”
“It was interesting because Burchell found the two prime ministers 'appeal to benevolence as unconvincing, aping what he calls the ethical niche market of the clergy who are specialists in' moral reproach '.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ethical’.
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EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
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bbc uk china vocab.
conservationists, estimate, threats, infertility, eating away at, endangered, furry, panel, in trouble, gongs, triumphed, caps and 1007 more...
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Society
social work, coverage, affiliate, social security, ambulance, clinic, health, insurance, emergency, mail, letter, envelope and 101 more...
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EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
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2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
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philosophical adjectives
Common and not-so-common adjectives found while studying philosophy.
dialectic, ontological, logical, theological, empirical, moral, ethical, metaphysical, atheistic, synthetic, monistic, dualistic and 13 more...
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1500 word lists
TOEFL iBT - 1500 Academic Words
exhume, excess, explode, exceed, expenditure, expectant, exhibition, eutrophication, eruption, erode, ethical, enterprise and 142 more...
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2
transition, contents, conformity, division, labour, prominent, complexity, interrelationalship, similarity, note, tentative, convey and 75 more...
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SoSheShall's list
slurp, coeur, slurple, glop, perp, fluarxx, ropechno, herrherr, burrduhherrherr, sloppy, cheezie balls, eccentric and 634 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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ESL Academic Word List
This is a list of academic words for students learning English as a Second or Foreign Language. It includes 570 word families that often appear in academic texts. It does not include words that are...
collapse, depression, colleagues, invoked, levy, nonetheless, likewise, so-called, ongoing, conceived, forthcoming, integrity and 558 more...
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styxis's Words
anthropomorphic, moral, ethical, mythic, lamia, mythopoesis, exegesis, ex nihilo, maimonides, numinous, exanimate, quixotic and 25 more...
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Distant Star
Vocabulary words from the book, "Distant Star"
affable, incongruous, enigmatic, pungent, peculiar, derived, outshone, palpable, discreet, infiltrate, smother, ethical and 14 more...
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sophomoric
effrontery, disparity, emanate, dilapidated, empathy, discomfit, emaciated, divulge, efficacious, diligent, enclave, elicit and 48 more...
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the opposite of sympathy
words I dislike, rationally or not.
money, paddy, goo, shout, forte, nihilistic, emo, indie, blubber, pathetic, proem, blithe and 17 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ethical.
gabefair An antonym would be unethical Feb 23, 2013