morality play

noun

1

: an allegorical play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries in which the characters personify abstract qualities or concepts (such as virtues, vices, or death)

2

: something (such as a court trial) which involves a direct conflict between right and wrong or good and evil and from which a moral lesson may be drawn

Examples of morality play in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Both saw foreign policy as a morality play pitting good against evil. —Jason Fields, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024

The Tudor drama morphs into a morality play via Sir Thomas More, beheaded by Henry in 1535 for refusing to recognize him as supreme head of the Church of England. —Elle Carroll, Vulture, 18 June 2024

Playground By Richard Powers Playground seems on the surface to belong in the first group—the flat-character morality plays that have come to define Powers’s later career. —Randy Boyagoda, The Atlantic, 17 Oct. 2024

The most celebrated Spanish novelists and directors of the Franco era offered accounts of people’s lives that avoided simple morality plays and partisan games. —Victor Pérez-Díaz, Foreign Affairs, 6 Dec. 2013

Word History

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

morality play

noun

: a type of play popular especially in the 15th and 16th centuries in which the characters stand for moral qualities (as virtue or vice) or conditions (as death)