principled

/ˈprɪnsəpəld/

/ˈprɪnsɪpəld/

If you decide to take a lower grade rather than cheat on a test, you are making a principled decision, or one that is based on moral rightness.

Most people have a set of principles or basic moral rules that they follow. These might include not stealing, not cheating, and treating people as you would like to be treated. Decisions made following these rules are principled, as are people who follow their principles often. If you take a principled stance on censorship, your defend or refute it actively based on your convictions.

Definitions of principled

1. adjective

   based on or manifesting objectively defined standards of rightness or morality
   “principled pragmatism and unprincipled expediency”

   “a principled person”

   synonyms:

   high-principled

   having high principles

   scrupulous

   having scruples; arising from a sense of right and wrong; principled

   antonyms:

   unprincipled

   lacking principles or moral scruples

   unscrupulous

   without scruples or principles