From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprincipledprin‧ci‧pled /ˈprɪnsəpəld/ AWL adjective formal 1 GOOD/MORALsomeone who is principled has strong opinions about what is morally right and wrongprincipled stand/opposition/objection etc He took a principled stand against the legislation.2 GOOD/MORALbased on clear and definite ideas an attempt to reduce prison sentences in a principled way
Examples from the Corpus
principled• These examples suggest that there is a possible principled basis for the distinction between semantic and syntactic deviance.• They substitute character attack and personal diatribe for principled debate and discussion of the issues.• There were very principled disagreements on both sides.• It remains a solid, principled groundwork for world Trotskyism.• principled leadership• Setting aside any principled notions that I have, which I do have, you know, it is purely pragmatic business.• principled opposition to the idea of lower taxation• Indeed, it is one; but it scarcely shows any principled rejection of all government.• If Pyongyang refuses, the allies will at least have taken a principled stand.principled stand/opposition/objection etc• If Pyongyang refuses, the allies will at least have taken a principled stand.• In addition to these practical difficulties, there are more principled objections.• Yet, even in opposition circles, intellectuals have refused to take a principled stand.• For this principled stand, the village fined him $ 1,500.• The broadcast opened with a clear statement of the Liberal Party's principled opposition to the National Curriculum. 