The words “moral” and “morale” look and sound similar, but their meanings are quite different. Moral and Morale are the pair of homonyms that not only sound similar, but their spelling also resembles a great extent. As a noun, a ‘moral’ is the lesson learned from a story – often used in the expression “the moral of the story.” Both of these words can function as a noun in a sentence, but only one of them can function as an adjective as well. Moral refers to the lesson or essence of the story or experience; it often talks about the principles of right or wrong conduct for society as a whole.
On the other hand, morale is used to describe someone’s spirit or degree of enthusiasm. Morale means the state of spirit/emotions of a group of people – their general confidence and cheerfulness. We put stress on the first syllable when we pronounce the word moral, but in the second syllable, when we pronounce ‘morale’.
Difference between Moral and Morale –
MORAL
- Moral can be defined as the standards or beliefs which define a right or wrong behavior of people.
- The word ‘moral’ is used to denote the extract of the story. It refers to the lesson learned from the experience, article, book, or anything else that tells you how to be a good person or how to behave with others.
- Moral either refers to the lesson of the story or it implies to the principles of right or wrong, good or bad behavior, and character of a person.
- The plural word ‘morals’ is used to talk about right or wrong conduct, fairness, truthfulness, loyalty, and so forth. The word ‘moral’ can be used as an adjective to mean the quality of being right or good in whatever you do, while as a noun it refers to the principles that act as a guide for the society or the message of the story.
- Examples: “Sometimes we should give time, some time” is the moral of the lesson. Their moral values are decreasing with time.
MORALE
- Morale defines a person’s emotional or mental status concerning the enthusiasm or confidence, in any negative situation.
- As a noun, the word ‘Morale’, implies the degree of confidence, satisfaction, spirit, and enthusiasm, of a person, particularly in an unfavorable or undesirable situation.
- The word morale can be understood as an individual’s moral or mental condition expressing his willingness, hope, confidence, and cheerfulness to cope with or survive a difficult situation.
- It indicates the psychological condition of a human being indicating self-esteem, courage, optimism, and determination towards something. It is influenced by an individual’s belief concerning the righteousness of their actions and future expectation. Morale implies the level of confidence in a person, to face a difficult situation.
- Examples: Will you help me in raising my morale? Robin is a man with high morale.
