good moral character
Sound ethical standing
Good moral character is a legal and administrative standard indicating a person meets baseline ethical requirements—honesty, lawfulness, respect for others.
The phrase appears most often in citizenship applications, professional licensing, and character references, where applicants must demonstrate they possess good moral character.
The standard is notoriously vague, typically meaning the absence of serious crimes, fraud, or dishonesty rather than the presence of virtue: Her good moral character was called into question after the conviction.
What counts varies by context and era.
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- honestyTruthfulness, sincerity
- true to one's wordKeeps promises made
- uprightVertical or morally sound
righteous · straight arrow · trustworthy · decent · honorable · heart of gold · ethical · principled · conscience · rectitude · wholesome · noble · scrupulous · respectable · citizenship · reputation · good standing · standing
- naturalizationcitizenship test, naturalization ceremony, naturalization test, naturalization certificate, citizenship oath
- immigrationimmigrant, immigrants, visa, refugee, citizenship
- citizenshipcitizen, citizenship laws, citizenship law, citizenship test, citizenship ceremony
good moral charactermoral turpitude
Inherently vile conduct
immorality · wickedness · depravity · corruption · villainy
good moral charactercriminal record
Log of past convictions
criminal history · disbarment · felony conviction · ineligibility · professional misconduct
good moral characterdisrepute
Damaged public standing
infamy · bad reputation · ill repute · notoriety · dishonor
goodness, goodly, moral, morals, morality, morally, moralist, moralistic, moralize