How to use virtue in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Virtue means the idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods. Example: “Without virtue, there is no freedom.”

Examples of virtue by meaning

nounAccordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral...

Without virtue, there is no freedom.
“Virtue is an inner light that can prevail in every soul.”2004 October 1, “Eight-and-a-Half-Tails”, in Champions of Kamigawa, Wizards of the Coast

nounSpecifically, each of several qualities held to be particularly important, including the four cardinal virtues, the...

Better to be excluded from society than to deny the virtue of citizenship.

nounThe inherent power or efficacy of something (now only in phrases).

But I am afraid that the virtue has gone from them, and now they are only glass.1962, Madeleine L’Engle, “Aunt Beast”, in A Wrinkle in Time, New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Ariel Books...
many Egyptians still worry that the Brotherhood, by virtue of discipline and experience, would hold an unfair advantage if elections were held too soon.2011 February 17, “The autumn of the patriarchs”, in The Economist

More sentences with virtue

Genuine cowards follow wicked people and cannot reliably sustain any virtue.From the entry wicked
In the novel, Constanza is a paragon of virtue who would never compromise her reputation.From the entry paragon
These ideas have many virtues, but falsifiability is not one of them.From the entry falsifiability
We don't often trump up products purely for the virtue of being "new".From the entry trump up
The virtues of national service, including military service, were extolled in the evening's presentations.From the entry military service
Genuine cowards follow the wicked and cannot reliably sustain any virtue.From the entry reliably
By virtue of the sonnet's many complications, Shakespeare put himself in a box when writing poetry.From the entry in a box
Well, thrift is a virtue, and he's nothing if not careful with money.From the entry nothing if not
Tithing is both a quranic and biblical virtue.From the entry biblical
She extols the virtues of veganism with missionary zeal.From the entry zeal
Mankind should develop reason above all other virtues.From the entry reason
His virtues are an excellent copy for imitation.From the entry copy
Pride is a vice, not a virtue.From the entry vice
He was a model of eloquence and virtue.From the entry model
Elders should inspire children with sentiments of virtue.From the entry inspire
Cleanliness is a virtue worth more than others.From the entry worth
Mercy is one of his many virtues.From the entry mercy
The novel seemed to enthrone love as the highest virtue.From the entry enthrone
He was a man of great parts but little virtue.From the entry parts
Theriac was essentially homeopathic in its supposed function, being an improvement on mithridate by virtue of containing more poisons.From the entry theriac
As the chest wall and lungs hyperinflate, they progressively resist further inflation by virtue of their elastic recoil characteristics.From the entry hyperinflate
Patience is a virtue, but those who are overpatient or hypertolerant risk inviting abusers to treat them like a doormat.From the entry hypertolerant
Patience is a virtue, but those who are hyperpatient or hypertolerant risk inviting abusers to treat them like a doormat.From the entry hyperpatient
Plummy students and the managerial elites might accrue ever-more virtue points through embracing the gender ideology.2026 January 23, Brendan O'Neill, “Gender ideology has been a disaster for working-class women”, in The Spectator. From the entry plummy
Virtue is not just about acting rightly but about feeling rightly.2023 June 26, Nikhil Krishnan, “Aristotle’s Rules for Living Well”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN…. From the entry rightly
As a result, Taoism seems like a virtue ethic, with wu-wei as its chief virtue.2022 Jan-Mar, Liam C. Butchart, “Taoism, bioethics, and the COVID-19 pandemic”, in Tzu Chi Medical Journal, volume 34, number 1, →DOI…. From the entry Taoism
Subject to section 5(1), copyright subsists only by virtue of this Act.2021, Parliament of Singapore, “Copyright Act 2021”, in Republic of Singapore Government Gazette, Acts Supplementᵂⁱᵏⁱˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ, page 76. From the entry subsist
Both are recognizably hauntological by virtue of the techniques they employ—VHS crackle, Windows start-up sounds, etc.2019, Tom Whyman, “Oh, They Have the Internet on Computers Now?”, in Alfie Bown, Dan Bristow, editors, Post Memes: Seizing the Memes of…. From the entry hauntological
The Sterns, instead, saw virtue in small-town crab houses and big-city pie houses.2017, John T. Edge, “Carter Country”, in The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN…. From the entry pie house
Such a woman, according to Saint Jerome, is virile in her virtue, as good as a man.2016 November 11, Susan L. Smith, The Power of Women: A "Topos" in Medieval Art and Literature, University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN…. From the entry immasculate
Christ is also present in the Supper by virtue of his "repletive presence.”2015, Hans Boersma, Matthew Levering, The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology. From the entry repletive
In its pure form, this ideal embraced the virtues of a productive, humble, and obedient adulthood.2015, Dr. Bill Thomas, William H. Thomas, Second Wind, page 51. From the entry Orthogonian
For all their many virtues the Romans appear to have been singularly lacking in curiosity.2015 [1938], “Forty years of evolution theory”, in Joseph Needham, Walter Pagel, editors, Background to Modern Science, reprint edition…. From the entry ovinely
Making a virtue out of necessity, they invented a dynamics that would permanently confine quarks within particles.2012 March-April, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, New Haven, Conn.: Sigma Xi, the…. From the entry quark
But if discrimen is a cardinal virtue of adulthood, the tenets of infantilism work against it.2012, Michael Bywater, Big Babies: Or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up?, →ISBN. From the entry discrimen

Meaning of virtue

noun The idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods.
noun Accordance with moral principles; conformity of behaviour or thought with the strictures of morality; good moral conduct.
noun An attribute of a personality (a "personality trait") which predisposes a person to behaviors resulting in human goodness; an admirable quality.

Full definition of virtue

Questions about virtue in a sentence

How do you use virtue in a sentence?: Virtue is used as a noun. For example: “Without virtue, there is no freedom.”
What is a short sentence with virtue?: “Without virtue, there is no freedom.”
What does virtue mean?: Virtue means the idea of all that is good or excellent (in every sense of those terms) in a human being, collectively instantiated by a varying number of human traits known as "the virtues", the enumeration of which vary by the many virtue systems which have developed within different cultures, religions, and historical periods.

Adapted from Wiktionary: virtue (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use virtue in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/virtue. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.