From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishethicaleth‧i‧cal /ˈeθɪkəl/ ●●○ AWL adjective [no comparative] 1 GOOD/MORALrelating to principles of what is right and wrong SYN moralethical issues/questions/problems The use of animals in scientific tests raises difficult ethical questions. The president must have the highest ethical standards.2 GOOD/MORALmorally good or correct OPP unethical I don’t think it’s ethical for you to accept a job you know you can’t do. ethical investment policies (=investing only in businesses that are considered morally acceptable) → unethical —ethically /-kli/ adverb
Examples from the Corpus
ethical• This type of advertisement may be legal, but is it ethical?• The effort to inculcate ethical behavior without religious faith seems one of the great fiascoes of the modern age.• Considered the moral consequences of our conduct, and weighed the ethical choices that it necessarily demands?• It would not be ethical for me, as a doctor, to talk to you about my patients.• She has such integrity, such an ethical, high-minded view of what the human spirit can attain.• For Ross obligatoriness or rightness, as a property of possible actions, is the most basic ethical property or relation.• Emmanuel Hospital is devoted to quality care and high ethical standards.• And from this stems the origin of ethical systems governing behaviour.• Is it ethical to use this drug to control patients' behaviour?• In his more positive ethical viewpoint Butler tries to give sense to the old opinion that one should live according to nature.• There is only one ethical way to carry out this experiment.ethical issues/questions/problems• Are we to teach science but never consider the ethical issues?• At his news conference, he said he would evaluate legal and ethical issues before deciding what to do with the money.• Group sessions between senior staff and learners are also of value when ethical problems occur in the treatment of patients.• Now there is a patchwork of state legislation enacted to deal with the legal and ethical issues raised by genetic information.• In the child research literature there seems to be a greater concern over ethical issues than in other areas.• Briant's work throws up considerable ethical problems that must be explored.• Apart from the ethical questions, the costs of these measures are disproportionate to any public health benefits.• As we march off boldly into a genetically engineered future, the moral and ethical issues will get more and more pressing.ethical investment• In the past two years ethical investment has developed from a niche market into the mainstream market.• First, is it an ethical investment policy to encourage people to try to have their cake and eat it?• On Earth, progressive tabernacles called ethical investment schemes have been using currency to support social causes for some time.From Longman Business Dictionaryethicaleth‧i‧cal /ˈeθɪkəl/ adjective1connected with principles of what is right and wrongThe practice of analysts owning shares raises tough ethical questions.2morally good or correctWe know our actions are completely legal and ethical. —ethically adverbHospitals are trying to behave ethically, and balance the medical needs of a patient against their funding. 