golden rule
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.48 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A fundamental rule or principle.
noun
The principle that one should treat other people in the manner in which one would want to be treated by them.
noun
A method of statutory interpretation, whereby a judge will deviate from a literal interpretation of the law to the extent necessary to circumvent obvious absurdities or (sometimes) conclusions repugnant to public policy.
Example Sentences
- "It is all-important to remember that naturalists have no golden rule by which to distinguish species and varieties; […]"
- "There is one golden rule of timetable work, that if a passenger train never runs to time it must be altered or other trains must be altered so that it can shake off its chronic unpunctuality."
- "Here's what we call our golden rule / Have faith in you and the things you do"
- "A new book called When Nothing Works shows which groups have enjoyed the biggest rise in take-home pay since the turn of the millennium. From Tony Blair to Boris Johnson, the authors discover one golden rule: the richer you are, the more money you’re given."
- ""Mr. Francis seems to understand the fundamental principle of all moral accounting, the great ethic rule of three. Let A do to B, as he would have B do to him; the product will give the rule of conduct required." My father smiled at this reduction of the golden rule to arithmetical form."
Inflected Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
give and take
love thy neighbor as thyself
one must give to get
reciprocity
return the favor
prime directive
rule of the road
rule of thumb