🗣️ To lecture morally 📖 To find a lesson 👨‍🏫 To teach morals

to moralize

3 7.2

Tell someone that their actions are right or wrong in a way that sounds like a lecture

verb
/ˈmɔːrəˌlaɪz/

: moralizar

He tends to moralize when discussing current events, often lecturing others on their actions.

And so I I tend to moralize and and make issues of character things I can't see.

Examples

You're moralizing with me now?

Analyze This (1999)
It's also often gets in the way of what we want to do, which is to moralize about what's going on.
Before you all begin to moralize, you take a look around.

Capricorn One (1977)
It's really not up to you to moralize about how people deal with a very individual experience.

Blog text (22)
Of course, one might decline to moralize while still maintaining moral values.

Blog text (18)
Donny, this is not the time to moralize.

I Smile Back (2015)
And if we want to change it, we don't just change it by moralizing about how bad it is.
You know, preaching and moralizing to you has really affected me.

Limelight (1952)
In the final section, I will briefly discuss why moralizing health policy should be resisted.

Academic text (2018)
Political discourse thus becomes moralizing, not the analyzing of problems.

Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

to lecture

vsto moralize

89 4.6

To give someone a long serious talk that warns or scolds them about what they did

focuses on moral judgment rather than general scolding or criticism

to sermonize

vsto moralize

2 8.0

To give advice about right and wrong for a long time in a boring way

gives moral advice without the long, formal sermon delivery

to preachify

vsto moralize

Informal

1 8.6

To speak in a long, moral way that makes people feel judged

gives moral advice but without strong self-righteous tone

How Judgmental

to scold

55 2.2

to moralize

3 7.2

to lecture

89 4.6

to advise

414 2.2

to counsel

108 4.0

Surface Forms

moralize infinitive

moralized past

moralised past

moralized past participle

moralised past participle

moralizing present participle

moralising present participle

moralises third person singular

moralize third person singular

Morphology

moralize = moral (transparent) = moral + ize

Standard verb formation from 'moral' with '-ize' yielding 'to act in a moralizing way' or 'to give moral instruction', which is a direct extension.

Etymology

Moralize comes from moral ('about right and wrong') plus the ending -ize ('to make' or 'to do'), so to moralize someone is to give moral advice or tell them how they should behave, often like a lecture.