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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ethical.

Of or relating to the study of ethics.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈɛθɪkəl/[ˈɛθɪkəl] ~ [ˈɛθɪkl̩]
  1. Of or relating to the study of ethics.

    not-comparable
    The philosopher Kant is particularly known for his ethical writings.
  2. Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some organization or profession.

    not-comparable
    All employees must familiarize themselves with our ethical guidelines.
  3. Morally approvable; good.

    comparable
    We are trying to decide what the most ethical course of action would be.
  4. Only dispensed on the prescription of a physician.

    not-comparable
    In most jurisdictions, morphine is classified as an ethical drug.
Where this word comes from

From ethic + -al, from Late Latin ethicus (“moral, ethical”), from Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, “of or for morals, moral, expressing character”), from ἦθος (êthos, “character, moral nature”).

noun/ˈɛθɪkəl/[ˈɛθɪkəl] ~ [ˈɛθɪkl̩]
  1. An ethical drug, one only dispensed on the prescription of a physician.

Where this word comes from

From ethic + -al, from Late Latin ethicus (“moral, ethical”), from Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, “of or for morals, moral, expressing character”), from ἦθος (êthos, “character, moral nature”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.