righteous

 
Pronunciation: /ˈrʌɪtʃəs/

adjective

  • 1morally right or justifiable: feelings of righteous indignation about pay and conditions
  • (of a person) morally good; virtuous: he stood up for what he knew was right and died a righteous person (as plural noun the righteous) victory in battle was conferred on the righteous
  • 2US informal, chiefly black English very good; excellent: righteous eggs, man!
  • correctly so called; genuine: he is righteous trash

Derivatives

righteously

adverb

Origin:

Old English rihtwīs, from riht 'right' + wīs 'manner, state, condition'. The change in the ending in the 16th century was due to association with words such as bounteous

Spelling help

The ending of righteous is spelled -eous.