morally

Definition of morallynext
as in innocently
with purity of thought and deed a politician who is in the habit of acting legally without behaving morally

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of morally Deadline’s Full Coverage Of Disney’s D23 Fan Event The VisionQuest also features James Spader as Ultron, Todd Stashwick as the morally ambiguous mercenary Paladin and Faran Tahir reprising his role of Raz from the MCU kickstarter pic Iron Man. Katie Campione, Deadline, 14 Aug. 2026 The good guys protecting us from people who want to work and live here will continue their morally upright quest by electrocuting their foes into submission. Frank Landymore, Futurism, 12 Aug. 2026 Zinn in the years to come was vexed both morally and politically by the impersonality of the killing as a bombardier. Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026 Nonetheless, memes like those received serious reactions from social commentators and political pundits who interpreted them as evidence that America’s young adults are nihilistic and morally indifferent. Evan Clarkson, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026 Unlike shoplifting, which is clearly transactional and morally coded, hotel theft exists in a fuzzier psychological space. Scott Campbell, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Aug. 2026 Forced into an uneasy cohabitation, the two navigate a sweet yet morally complex web of secrets and survival. Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026 Football is full of cautionary tales (and, for the sake of balance, morally-dubious fairy tales) about the risks and rewards of taking on finance adjacent to or entangled with politics. James Horncastle, New York Times, 30 July 2026 Saldaña noted that season three also sheds light on the morally gray decisions each character must make. Kenneal Patterson, Vanity Fair, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for morally
Adverb
  • The Network Started With A Missing File The origins of the incident started innocently.
    Ron Schmelzer, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Their amalgamation with the other color produces a degradation to which no lover of his country, no lover of excellence in the human character can innocently consent.
    Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
Adverb
  • Whatever people think of the film, it was endeavored to be made with purely with the process at its heart.
    Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Element 116 on the periodic table had been purely theoretical until December 2000, when scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory synthesized it for the first time.
    Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2026
Adverb
  • As one of the most important organs in the body, the heart needs to function properly under all circumstances, even during stressful situations such as imminent danger.
    Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 14 Aug. 2026
  • To properly rebalance, Beijing would need to reconstruct the fiscal model on which every province and municipality depends, accept the resulting collapse in local government revenues, and absorb mass layoffs.
    Michael B. G. Froman, Foreign Affairs, 13 Aug. 2026
Adverb
  • Take The Music Lesson, a study of a young woman playing the virginal, closely watched by a gentleman, which Graham-Dixon reads as a depiction of Collegiants chastely performing and singing psalms.
    Clare Bucknell, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
Adverb
  • Some of us virtuously recycle items that will be transported across the world to smother island nations in single-use plastic bags and water bottles, milk jugs, yogurt tubs, pet food and potato chip bags, Styrofoam meat trays, Coke bottles, Amazon mailing envelopes, and fast-food wrappers.
    Caroline Fraser, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
  • The glorious sweep of progress toward Roman civilization and prosperity means the end of an idyllic, virtuously rustic Golden Age.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • Witnesses’ fumbling looks bad by comparison, and Ossoff sounds righteously angry without being rageful.
    David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026
  • With raping, raving misogynists in the highest offices and loudest cultural bandwidths of the world, women of all classes have cause to be righteously filled with rage, betrayal, and disappointment.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 June 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Morally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/morally. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on morally

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster