Character Motives and Moral Ambiguity

C2 · 100 entries · Five themes

Character Motives and Moral Ambiguity

Created by , British English teacher.

Open a theme, then select a word or phrase for its meaning, example and pronunciation.

1. Mixed motives (20 entries)
  1. salve your conscience
  2. vestige of affection
  3. enlightened self-interest
  4. disavow
  5. cloak self-interest in principle
  6. read an ulterior motive into
  7. calculated self-effacement
  8. claim the moral high ground
  9. an implicit quid pro quo
  10. indulge in wishful thinking
  11. take someone at their word
  12. inflexibly principled
  13. dogmatic
  14. brazenly self-serving
  15. delude oneself into thinking
  16. act out of self-interest
  17. profess disinterest
  18. feign indifference
  19. single-minded
  20. impugn someone's good faith
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2. Conflicting loyalties (20 entries)
  1. cronyism
  2. recuse yourself
  3. beholden to
  4. filial duty
  5. nepotism
  6. unswerving
  7. betray someone's trust
  8. violate an understanding
  9. place someone in an invidious position
  10. treachery
  11. place implicit trust in someone
  12. forgiveness
  13. let bygones be bygones
  14. act in breach of trust
  15. take someone at face value
  16. mercenary
  17. take someone into one's confidence
  18. give someone a clean slate
  19. keep someone in the dark
  20. have an old score to settle
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3. Ambiguous virtues (20 entries)
  1. disinterested
  2. miserly
  3. self-effacing
  4. timorous
  5. doctrinaire
  6. martyr yourself
  7. unapproachable
  8. inflexible
  9. brazen
  10. unyielding
  11. impudent
  12. imperious
  13. insolent
  14. world-weary
  15. inward-looking
  16. domineering
  17. blinkered
  18. jaded
  19. impertinent
  20. overweening
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4. Moral judgement (20 entries)
  1. atone for
  2. contrition
  3. exonerate
  4. wilful blindness
  5. compunction
  6. unwitting complicity
  7. attribute an act to malice
  8. redeem oneself in someone's eyes
  9. be tarred with the same brush
  10. muddy the waters
  11. put someone in the clear
  12. plead ignorance
  13. in bad faith
  14. take the fall for someone
  15. be made a scapegoat
  16. have a clean slate
  17. malicious
  18. mud sticks
  19. drag someone's name through the mud
  20. reputational spillover
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5. Character interpretation (20 entries)
  1. foil
  2. belie
  3. impute a motive
  4. persevering
  5. level-headed
  6. self-possessed
  7. imperturbable
  8. keep up appearances
  9. be wise to someone's game
  10. indefatigable
  11. forbearance
  12. be under no illusions
  13. grin
  14. unflappable
  15. play one's cards right
  16. rectitude
  17. hold one's cards close to one's chest
  18. treacherous
  19. dissemble
  20. informant
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