公德 (gōng dé) — public morality; civic virtue; social ethics

Definition

Moral standards for how people behave in shared public spaces (e.g. not littering, keeping quiet). Comparable to 道德, but 道德 covers personal ethics broadly while 公德 is specifically conduct in public.

noun

public moralitycivic virtuesocial ethics

Examples

公德。
Měi gè rén dōu yǒu wéi hù gōng dé de zé rèn.
Everyone has the responsibility to uphold public morality.
公德。
Zài gōng gòng chǎng suǒ bǎo chí ān jìng shì yì zhǒng jī běn de gōng dé.
Keeping quiet in public places is a basic civic virtue.
公德，。
Tā fēi cháng zhòng shì gōng dé, cóng bù suí dì rēng lā jī.
He places great importance on public morality and never litters.

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