moral victory
noun
: the achievement of something that is important and good
Although they lost, the minority claimed the vote as a moral victory since they had won the support of so many former opponents.
Examples of moral victory in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That moral battle, that moral victory, is maybe even more obvious than the political victory.
—
Rachel Handler, Vulture, 20 June 2024
The win amounts to a moral victory for Trump’s only remaining rival in the GOP race.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2024
He is poised to declare a moral victory for Russia and to take the credit if Obama backs away from intervention.
—Fiona Hill, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2013
That’s just a moral victory for a franchise that no longer tolerates them.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
The underdogs in those games went just 2-6 straight up, but 5-3 against the spread (not that any fan base is taking a moral victory from covering the spread this late in the season).
—Andrew Birkle, Detroit Free Press, 25 Jan. 2024
That was a moral victory because a costly mistake on an element in the short program a year ago had left her in 11th place, giving her a steep climb to her eventual fifth-place finish.
—Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2024
Unfortunately, this was a standard Patriots loss — close, but not quite.
Related: A moral victory?
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Sep. 2023
There is no moral victory in being a lone boycotter.
—John Hodgman, New York Times, 6 July 2023
Rachel Handler, Vulture, 20 June 2024
The win amounts to a moral victory for Trump’s only remaining rival in the GOP race.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 23 Jan. 2024
He is poised to declare a moral victory for Russia and to take the credit if Obama backs away from intervention.
—Fiona Hill, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2013
That’s just a moral victory for a franchise that no longer tolerates them.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
The underdogs in those games went just 2-6 straight up, but 5-3 against the spread (not that any fan base is taking a moral victory from covering the spread this late in the season).
—Andrew Birkle, Detroit Free Press, 25 Jan. 2024
That was a moral victory because a costly mistake on an element in the short program a year ago had left her in 11th place, giving her a steep climb to her eventual fifth-place finish.
—Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2024
Unfortunately, this was a standard Patriots loss — close, but not quite.
Related: A moral victory?
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Sep. 2023
There is no moral victory in being a lone boycotter.
—John Hodgman, New York Times, 6 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'moral victory.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near moral victory
Cite this Entry
“Moral victory.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral%20victory. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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