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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Virtuous \Vir"tu*ous\ (?; 135), adjective [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See {Virtue}, and cf. {Virtuoso}.]
1. Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [Obs.]
Old Priam's son, amongst them all, was chiefly virtuous. --Chapman. (b) Having power or efficacy; powerfully operative; efficacious; potent. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Lifting up his virtuous staff on high, He smote the sea, which calm['e]d was with speed. --Spenser.
Every virtuous plant and healing herb. --Milton. (c) Having moral excellence; characterized by morality; upright; righteous; pure; as, a virtuous action.
The virtuous mind that ever walks attended By a strong siding champion, conscience. --Milton.
2. Chaste; pure; -- applied especially to women.
Mistress Ford . . . the virtuous creature, that hath the jealous fool to her husband. --Shak. -- {Vir"tu*ous*ly}, adverb -- {Vir"tu*ous*ness}, noun
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
virtuous
adjective
1: of moral excellence; "a genuinely good person"; "a just cause"; "an upright and respectable man"; "the life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous"- Frederick Douglass [syn: {good}, {just}, {upright}]
2: morally excellent [ant: {wicked}]
3: behaving according to standards of what is right or just; "led a virtuous (or moral) life"
4: in a state of sexual virginity; "pure and vestal modesty"; "a spinster or virgin lady"; "men have decreed that their women must be pure and virginal" [syn: {pure}, {vestal}, {virgin}, {virginal}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
130 Moby Thesaurus words for "virtuous": Christian, advantageous, angelic, auspicious, beneficial, benevolent, blameless, blotless, bon, bonny, braw, bueno, capital, chaste, clean, cleanly, cogent, commendable, creditable, decent, effectual, efficacious, efficient, elegant, erect, estimable, ethical, excellent, exemplary, expedient, fair, fair-minded, faithful, famous, faultless, favorable, fine, full of integrity, godly, good, goodly, grand, guiltless, healthy, helpful, high-minded, high-principled, highly respectable, honest, honorable, immaculate, in the clear, incorruptible, inculpable, innocent, inviolate, irreproachable, just, kind, laudable, law-abiding, law-loving, law-revering, manly, moral, moralistic, nice, noble, pleasant, principled, profitable, proper, pure, pure in heart, purehearted, regal, reputable, respectable, right, right-minded, righteous, royal, saintlike, saintly, scrupulous, seraphic, sexually innocent, sinless, skillful, snowy, sound, splendid, spotless, stainless, sterling, straight, taintless, true, true-dealing, true-devoted, true-disposing, true-souled, true-spirited, truehearted, trustworthy, unblamable, unblemished, unblotted, uncorrupt, uncorrupted, undefiled, unimpeachable, unsoiled, unspotted, unstained, unsullied, untainted, untarnished, upright, uprighteous, upstanding, useful, valid, very good, virgin, virginal, white, without reproach, worthy, yeomanly
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