Definition

1. Noun:
   • Talent and virtue: A compound noun referring to both exceptional ability/skill and moral character/virtue, considered as a unified quality of an admirable person.
   • Merit and virtue: Describes the combination of competence and ethical goodness, often used to praise someone's complete personal worth.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Ông ấy là một người có tài đức vẹn toàn. (He is a person of complete talent and virtue.)
  • Chúng ta cần trọng dụng những người tài đức. (We need to value and employ people of talent and virtue.)
  • Tài đức của ông ấy được mọi người kính nể. (His talent and virtue are respected by everyone.)

Advanced Usage

• "kẻ có tài mà không có đức": This common contrasting phrase ("a person with talent but without virtue") highlights how "tài đức" represents the ideal combination, implying that talent alone is insufficient without moral grounding.
• Often used in formal, literary, or evaluative contexts to describe exemplary figures, leaders, scholars, or anyone held in high esteem for both their capabilities and their character.

Variants and Related Words

• Tài năng (n): Talent, skill, ability (focuses only on capability).
• Đức độ (n): Virtue, moral character, goodness (focuses only on ethics).
• Nhân tài (n): Talented person, person of ability.
• Đức hạnh (n): Virtue, moral conduct.

Synonyms

• Tài đức vẹn toàn: Complete/perfect talent and virtue (an intensified form).
• Vừa có tài vừa có đức: To have both talent and virtue (a descriptive phrase).

Related Idioms and Set Phrases

• "Tài đức song toàn": Idiom meaning "excelling in both talent and virtue," used for the highest praise.
• "Trọng người tài đức": To value/esteem people of talent and virtue.
• "Bậc tài đức": A person of talent and virtue (a respectful title).

noun

1. talent and virtue