私德

sīdé
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 private morality
  2. 2 personal ethics

Examples

HSK 4
Tā gōngzuò nénglì hěn qiáng, kěshì sīdé bù hǎo.
He is very capable at work, but his private morals are poor.
HSK 7-9
Liáng Qǐchāo rènwéi, Zhōngguórén zhòng sīdé ér qīng gōngdé.
Liang Qichao argued that Chinese morality valued private virtue and neglected public ethics.

Tips

usage
The counterpart of 公德: 私德 is how one behaves in private life (honesty, family, fidelity), 公德 how one behaves toward the public and strangers. 梁启超 made the pair famous in his essay series 《新民说》 (1902–1906).

Stroke Order

私 sī
德 dé