{
    "term": "virtue",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "behaviour or attitudes that show high moral standards",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He led a life of virtue."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was certainly no **paragon of virtue** *(= her moral standards were very far from perfect)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It would have taken a paragon of virtue not to feel jealous."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was seen as a paragon of domestic virtue."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She led a life of moral virtue."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Personal qualities"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["cardinal", "great", "important"],
                "verb + virtue": ["have", "possess", "embody"],
                "phrases": ["make a virtue of necessity", "a paragon of virtue"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a particular good quality or habit",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Patience is not one of her virtues, I'm afraid."
                },
                {
                    "text": "As a politician, he always emphasized the virtues of compromise and conciliation."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He taught his children to practise/​practice the virtues of temperance and chastity."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He understands the traditional virtue of hard work."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Philippe embodies the French virtues of charm and grace."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was convinced of the inherent virtue of hard work."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She has just one, negative virtue—she never tells lies."
                },
                {
                    "text": "the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["cardinal", "great", "important"],
                "verb + virtue": ["have", "possess", "embody"],
                "phrases": ["make a virtue of necessity", "a paragon of virtue"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "an attractive or useful quality",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The plan **has the virtue of** simplicity."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was extolling the virtues of the internet."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They could see **no virtue in** discussing it further."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There is no inherent virtue in having read all the latest books."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The brochure makes a positive virtue of the island's isolated position."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There is, of course, no inherent virtue in moderation."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a story celebrating the virtues of democracy"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was going on about the virtues of the internet."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Her book has the cardinal virtue of simplicity."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "advantage",
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["cardinal", "great", "important"],
                "verb + virtue": ["have", "possess", "embody"],
                "phrases": ["make a virtue of necessity", "a paragon of virtue"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "by means of or because of something",
            "labels": "(formal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She got the job by virtue of her greater experience."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to manage to present as a good quality something that other people might consider to be bad",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "There are artists who make a virtue of repetition."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to manage to gain an advantage from something that you have to do and cannot avoid",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She decided to make a virtue of necessity and combined a business trip to Paris with a visit to her cousins there."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "willing to have sex with anyone",
            "labels": "(old-fashioned, disapproving)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a woman of easy virtue"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "the reward for acting in a moral or correct way is the knowledge that you have done so, and you should not expect more than this, for example praise from other people or payment",
            "labels": "(saying)",
            "examples": []
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈvɜːtʃuː/",
                "audio": "vi/virtue/virtue__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈvɜːrtʃuː/",
                "audio": "vi/virtue/virtue__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English: from Old French vertu, from Latin virtus ‘valour, merit, moral perfection’, from vir ‘man’."
}