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🧐 Judging others 💬 A moral saying
moralism

moralism

2 8.1
Making strict judgments about right and wrong while acting as if they are better than others
  • noun
  • /ˈmɔrəlɪzəm/
translation icon : moralismo
  • Despite their criticism of the vice of "moralism," Skeel and Stuntz give some indication that they understand the importance of justice.
  • academic moralism
  • intolerant moralism
  • public moralism

Examples

  • Thus, to uphold these values, law must "pursue a more modest agenda" by avoiding the error of moralism.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Riis has been criticized by the left for his moralism and by the right for his environmentalism.

    Academic text (1991)

  • In an important sense, his environmentalism and his moralism were somewhat at odds.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Moralism is no more a problem for contract theory than it is for commodification debates generally.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Underneath the high-toned moralism, they are lovers of wealth and comfort.

    Academic text (1990)

  • But Solzhenitsyn has not always avoided moralism in his public pronouncements.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Politics abhors a vacuum, and as Charles Krauthammer has suggested, moralism does, too.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Otherwise, it gives rise to incoherent and often tepid displays of moralism.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Bourne wanted the foreign-born to maintain their identities against the narrow and lifeless moralism he saw in Anglo-Saxon Americanism.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Her constant moralism made it difficult for others to share their views without fear of judgment.

Synonyms

moralizing
vsmoralism
4 7.6

Talking to people about right and wrong in a judging way

is the general tendency to impose morals rather than single acts of speech
sanctimony
vsmoralism
3 9.9

Pretending to be morally better than others

is about making moral judgments broadly rather than only seeming pious
judgmentalism
vsmoralism
  • US
1 8.0

A habit of thinking badly about people quickly without trying to understand them

is more about imposing moral standards and superiority rather than quick harshness
sanctimoniousness
vsmoralism
1 9.9

To pretend to be morally better than other people

is a general tendency to impose moral judgments rather than public performance
priggishness
vsmoralism
  • Offensive
9.9

A way of behaving that is too proper and judges others for small mistakes

focuses on judging and imposing morals rather than mere decorum
Pharisaism
vsmoralism
  • Offensive
9.9

Strict religious behavior that pretends to be good and judges others

is the wider act of making moral judgments beyond religious rule keeping
moralization
vsmoralism
7.8

Saying people's actions are right or wrong in a preachy way

describes the ongoing habit of judging others not just stating codes

Antonyms

amoralism
  • Specialized
9.9

Belief that right and wrong do not matter

How Judgmental

condemnation
56 5.5
moralism
2 8.1
moralizing
4 7.6

Surface Forms

moralism singular
moralisms plural

Morphology

moralism = moral (transparent) = moral + ism

Formed by the adjective 'moral' plus the productive suffix '-ism' indicating a practice or tendency, so the meaning is directly inferable.

Etymology

Moralism comes from moral ('about right and wrong') plus the ending -ism ('a practice or belief'), and moral goes back to an old Latin word mos meaning 'habit' or 'custom'. So moralism is the practice of giving moral rules or judging others, often with an attitude of being morally better.