vir‧tue W3 / vɜtʃu $ vɜr- / 名词

1 [不可数名词] formal moral goodness of character and behaviour 反义词 vice :

Women have often been used as symbols of virtue.

2 [可数名词] a particular good quality in someone’s character 反义词 vice :

Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness.

3 [可数和不可数名词] an advantage that makes something better or more useful than something else

virtue of

Adam Smith believed in the virtues of free trade.

Wilkins is now extolling (= praising very much ) the virtues of organic farming.

4 by virtue of something formal by means of, or as a result of something :

She became a British resident by virtue of her marriage.

5 make a virtue of something to get an advantage from a situation that you cannot change, usually a bad one :

She made a virtue of her acting limitations by joking about them.

6 make a virtue of necessity to get an advantage from doing something that you have to do, or to pretend that you are doing it willingly

THESAURUS

advantage a good feature that something has, which makes it better, more useful etc than other things : The great advantage of digital cameras is that there is no film to process.

benefit a feature of something that has a good effect on people’s lives : Regular exercise has many benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease.

merit a good feature that something has, which you consider when you are deciding whether it is the best choice : The committee will consider the merits of the proposals. | The merits and demerits of (= the good and bad features of ) alternative funding systems were widely discussed in the newspapers. | The chairman saw no great merit in this suggestion (= he did not think that it was a good idea ) .

virtue an advantage that makes you believe that something is a good thing : They believed in the virtues of culture, civilization, and reason. | He’s always extolling the virtues of hard work (= saying that hard work is a good thing ) .

the good/great/best thing about something especially spoken used when mentioning a good feature of something. This 短语 is rather informal and you should not use it in formal essays : The good thing about cycling is that you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in a traffic jam.

the beauty of something is that used when you want to emphasize that something has a very good or useful feature : The beauty of the plan is that it is so simple.