moral
/ˈmɒɹəl/adjective, noun, verb
moral is spelled M-O-R-A-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “moral vs morale” about 2,900 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, moral means “Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in moral?
| Letters | 5: M-O-R-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 29 times per million words; the 3,218th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is moral?
Moral appears 29 times per million words in written English, the 3,218th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce moral?
- UK /ˈmɒɹəl/
- British /ˈmɔɹəl/
- /ˈmɒɾəl/
Moral has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-moral.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with moral
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with moral?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as moral (/ɒɹəl/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: molar.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of moral
- more moral comparative
- most moral superlative
- morals plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- moraling US, participle, present
- moralling UK, participle, present
- moraled US, participle, past
- moralled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does moral mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behaviour, especially conforming to principles of rectitude.
moral judgments; a moral poem
- 2
Conforming to a given standard of right behaviour.
a moral action
- 3
Being sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment.
- 4
Capable of right and wrong action.
a moral agent
- 5
Probable but not proved.
a moral certainty
- 6
Positively affecting the mind, confidence, or will.
a moral victory; moral support
noun
- 1
The ethical significance or practical lesson.
The moral of The Boy Who Cried Wolf is that if you repeatedly lie, people won't believe you when you tell the truth.
- 2
Moral practices or teachings: modes of conduct.
a candidate with strong morals
- 3
A depiction of good or heroic actions.
- 4
obsoleteA morality play.
- 5
datedslangA moral certainty.
- 6
datedslangAn exact counterpart.
verb
- 1
To moralize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Moral in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | moral , moralité , morale |
| German | moralisch , Moral , sittlich |
| Portuguese | moral , moralidade |
| Spanish | moral , moraleja |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does moral come from?
From Middle English moral, from Old French moral, from Latin mōrālis (“relating to manners or morals”) (first used by Cicero, to translate Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ēthikós, “moral”)), from mos (“manner, custom”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).