SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
cardinal virtue
noun
One of the four traditional virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
One of four traditional virtues
No close substitute is listed for this sense. The expressions below help explain the idea.
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topThis traditional category contains prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Principal or fundamental virtue is broader wording and can describe virtues outside that fixed category.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See cardinal virtue in use
The seminar asked how each cardinal virtue might guide a difficult choice.
In an ethics discussion, the tutor connected a careful decision about limited materials with prudence, a traditional cardinal virtue.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license