Difference Between Moral and Morale (with Comparison Chart)

Moral and Morale are the pair of homonyms which not only sound similar, but their spelling also resembles a great extent. Moral refers to the lesson or essence of the story or experience; it often talks about the principles of right or wrong conduct for the society as a whole.

On the other hand, morale is used to describe someone’s spirit or degree of enthusiasm. Let’s take a look at these examples to understand the differences between these two:

Morale of the villagers can be improved only when they are morally supported.
The moral is “one should go on a trip to increase his/her morale.”

In both the sentences, the word morale is used to refer the amount of confidence or hope, as against in the first sentence moral refers to principles of right or wrong, while in the second sentence it implies something that we learned from the mistake, experience or story.

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Moral	Morale
Meaning	Moral can be defined as the standards or beliefs which defines a right or wrong behavior of people.	Morale defines a person's emotional or mental status concerning the enthusiasm or confidence, in any negative situation.
Part of speech	Noun and adjective	Noun
Pronunciation	ˈmɒr(ə)l	məˈrɑːl
Examples	"Sometimes we should give time, some time" is the moral of the lesson.	Will you help me in raising my morale?
	There moral values are decreasing with time.	Robin is a man with high morale.
	I need some moral support, to overcome the situation.	Is he loosing morale or he's just pretending?

Definition of Moral

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.

The plural word ‘morals’ is used to talk about right or wrong conduct, fairness, truthfulness, loyalty and so forth. Let’s look at the points given below to understand its usage:

To indicate the message of the story or incident:
- “Its good to be crisp and clear” is the moral I learned today.
It represents the standard of good or bad behaviour:
- It is the moral duty of the policeman to arrest the thief and present him before the court.
- One cannot make a moral judgement on any person’s decision in life.
To behave in a such a manner which is regarded as ideal or acceptable:
- You don’t need to be moral all the time.
- We want only moral and civilized people in the team.

Definition of Morale

As a noun, the word ‘Morale’, implies the degree of confidence, satisfaction, spirit and enthusiasm, of a person, particularly in an unfavourable or undesirable 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. Have a look at these examples for better understanding:

Indian cricket team won the third series in a row, which increased the morale of the cricketers.
Low morale in employees regarding work, is a big issue for the company.
After the demise of her brother, Kate lost her morale.

Key Differences Between Moral and Morale

The difference between moral and morale are presented in the points given below:

Moral either refers to the lesson of the story or it implies to the principles of right or wrong, good or bad behaviour and character of a person. On the other hand, 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.
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. As against, morale implies the level of confidence in a person, to face a difficult situation.
We put stress on the first syllable when we pronounce the word moral, but in the second syllable, when we pronounce ‘morale’.

Examples

Moral

The moral of the story is, “honesty is the best policy.”
Insulting a poor person for his poorness is morally incorrect.
All a person needs is moral support at the time of difficulty.

Morale

The company offered incentives for good performance, to improve the morale of workers.
The speech given by the chief minister boosted the morale of the farmers.
People with high morale always do better.

How to remember the differences

The best way to recognize the difference between moral and morale is that use moral when you are discussing what is good or evil, and also in the context of the bottom line of the story. However, morale is used when you are talking about the amount of confidence in doing something difficult.