Moral vs morale
Moral is about right and wrong, as in a moral choice or the moral of a story. Morale is the confidence and spirit of a person or group.
Say them differently: MOR-al stresses the start, and morale stresses the end, muh-RAL, which rhymes with corral.
moral adjective
Having to do with right and wrong, or doing what is right. As a noun, the lesson a story teaches.
- Returning the lost wallet was the moral thing to do.
- The moral of the fable is that kindness is never wasted.
morale noun
How confident and hopeful people feel about their group, their goal, or themselves.
- Three straight losses had left team morale at a season low.
- A surprise bonus gave the staff's morale a big lift.
Watch out
- Moral support means help that makes someone feel stronger in mind, not help with money or things. It is still spelled moral, not morale.Volunteers offered moral support to the families waiting at the hospital.
- Morals, in the plural, usually means a person's rules of right and wrong. It can also just be the plural of a story's moral. Either way, it is not morale.
Test yourself
After weeks of layoffs, blank in the office was very low.
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morale. The workers' confidence and spirit is their morale.
The blank of the story is that honesty pays.
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moral. The lesson a story teaches is its moral.
Lying to your friend would be a blank failure.
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moral. This is about right and wrong, so the adjective moral fits.
The coach's speech gave the players' blank a boost.
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morale. A boost to confidence and team spirit is a boost to morale.