righteous
righteous Lexical Profile
righteous Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Morally right, upright, or virtuous; acting in accordance with divine or moral law.
"Throughout the community, she was respected as a righteous leader who never compromised her principles for personal gain."
Morally justifiable or warranted by the circumstances (especially of anger, indignation, or a cause).
"The whistleblowers were driven by righteous indignation over the company's illegal dumping of toxic waste."
American Genuine, excellent, or admirable (used in informal or slang contexts).
"The band played a righteous guitar solo that had the entire festival crowd cheering."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'righteous' (genuinely moral, upright, or justifiable, as in 'righteous indignation') with 'self-righteous' (smugly or hypocritically convinced of one's own moral superiority).
• Rhymes for righteous
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English rihtwis ('just, upright, virtuous'), a compound of riht ('right, straight') and wis ('way, manner, or wise'); the ending was reshaped in the 16th century by analogy with Latinate adjectives ending in -eous (such as courteous).