moral obligation
noun
Simple meaning
An obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mawruhlahbluhgayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɔɹəlɑbləˈɡeɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
law
An obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong
law
A duty which one owes and ought to perform on the basis of considerations of right and wrong, but which he is not legally bound to fulfill, as a duty to be charitable, a duty to pay a debt barred by the act of limitations, etc.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: An obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong
Used this way, moral obligation is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
- Ethics/values
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.