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by Kate Woodford

Today’s topic is the language that we use to describe people and actions that are morally good and morally bad.

Starting with the word ‘good’ and its collocations, we say that a person leads a good life, meaning they live ‘in a morally right way’. We also use the phrase a good deed for an action that is deliberately done to be kind or helpful:

Like most people, I try to lead a good life.

I’ve just spent two hours litter picking, so I’ve done my good deed for the day!

‘Good’ in this sense is also a noun, often heard in the phrases good and evil and a force for good, meaning ‘a good influence’:

The underlying story, like so many, is the battle between good and evil.

We need to make our country a force for good in the world.

Moving on, the approving adjective decent can be used to describe a person who is basically good, honest, and kind:

He seems a decent sort of guy.

A virtuous person always behaves according to high moral standards, and someone who is saintly is completely good (like a saint) with absolutely no bad qualities:

She plays the virtuous heroine of the story.

In the movie, he’s portrayed as an almost saintly figure.

Meanwhile, the rather formal adjectives upright and upstanding describe a person who is moral and honest and always obeys the law. They often go before the nouns ‘citizen’ and ‘member’:

He pays his taxes and is an honest, upright citizen.

In all other respects, these were fine, upstanding members of the community.

Not all ‘good’ adjectives are completely positive. Someone who is described as worthy is basically good, but rather boring:

As a leader, she was regarded as worthy but not terribly exciting.

Now let’s look at words for ‘bad’. The adjectives evil and wicked are very strong, meaning ‘extremely morally bad and cruel’. They are often used in stories:

The main character is convinced that his son is possessed by an evil spirit.

She plays the part of the wicked stepmother.

Ironically, wicked can also be used informally to mean ‘excellent’, and in American English, ‘extremely’:

Wow! Your new car is wicked!

Their little boy is wicked smart.

The adjective immoral means ‘morally wrong or bad’ while the formal adjective abhorrent describes actions that are morally completely unacceptable:

Surely most people would agree that stealing is immoral.

We are calling for an end to this abhorrent practice.

Finally, many emphatic adjectives that mean ‘extremely bad’ can specifically be used to mean ‘extremely morally bad’, for example appalling, terrible, and foul:

It was an appalling crime.

He was a terrible man.

The agency was accused of foul and cruel treatment of the animals in its care.

That concludes today’s post on words for ‘good’ and ‘bad’. I hope you found it useful.