ethical vs principled

ethical

adj
  • Of or relating to the study of ethics. 

  • Morally approvable; good. 

  • Of or relating to the accepted principles of right and wrong, especially those of some organization or profession. 

  • Only dispensed on the prescription of a physician. 

noun
  • An ethical drug, one only dispensed on the prescription of a physician. 

principled

adj
  • strongly adhering to, or heedful of, guiding beliefs or moral rules 

  • Based on, having, or manifesting principles 

How often have the words ethical and principled occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )