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Glite Dictionary
moralizing

moralizing

4 7.6
Talking to people about right and wrong in a judging way
  • noun
  • /ˈmɔːrəlaɪzɪŋ/
translation icon : moralización
  • Well, for starters, we should always be wary of such simple, moralizing explanations of history.
  • moralizing purpose

And you might think that that would turn people off for the reasons that you just described, young people being turned off by, let's call it conservative moralizing.

Examples

  • The events are presented without commentary or explanation, and certainly without any moralizing on the part of the author.

    Academic text (1997)

  • I am more concerned about the endless moralizing around tough issues, which makes them seem too easy too fast.

    Academic text (2009)

  • There is no moralizing like the moralizing of the damned.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Perhaps it is asleep somewhere, bored, like me, by all this moralizing that people are doing.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Courts issuing edicts are about the last place one would predict that moralizing would be useful or effective.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Only those with the greater potential for carrying moralizing messages, however, manage to cross the frontier between orature and literature.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The school is considered primarily a moralizing and socializing organization, and secondarily a teaching institution.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Philosophy is free inquiry and is therefore set against dogmatic teaching, moralizing, and preaching of any sort.

    Academic text (2017)

  • The painting resists attempts to capture its inner meaning or to interpret it in a moralizing or patriotic framework.

    Academic text (2014)

  • The constant moralizing about others' choices can be quite off-putting in discussions.

Synonyms

preaching
vsmoralizing
  • Informal
11 4.6

Giving moral advice in a way that feels bossy or unwanted

is broader applying to any moral judgment not only spoken advice
sanctimony
vsmoralizing
3 9.9

Pretending to be morally better than others

focuses on false piety or hypocrisy rather than general moral judging
moralism
vsmoralizing
2 8.1

Making strict judgments about right and wrong while acting as if they are better than others

is a single act of moral judgment rather than a general practice
pontification
vsmoralizing
1 9.1

A way of speaking that sounds proud and annoys people

concerns moral judgment and self righteous remarks rather than general pompous talk
sanctimoniousness
vsmoralizing
1 9.9

To pretend to be morally better than other people

expresses moral judgment and self righteousness without necessarily hypocrisy
moralization
vsmoralizing
7.8

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

is identical in sense but presented as the active behavior
preachification
vsmoralizing
  • Informal
9.9

To talk in a long, annoying way about right and wrong

is the act of judging morally but not necessarily tedious or excessive

Antonyms

amoral
20 6.3

Not thinking about right or wrong when acting

How Preachy

preachy
  • Informal
11 6.8
moralizing
4 7.6
sermonic
1 7.5
didactic
  • Literature
5 8.1
instructive
31 4.1

Surface Forms

moralizing singular
moralizings plural

Morphology

moralizing = moralize (transparent) = moral + ize + ing

Formed by adding '-ing' to the verb 'moralize' (itself 'moral' + '-ize'); the meaning 'expressing moral judgments' is predictable from these parts.

Etymology

Moralizing comes from moral (about 'right and wrong') plus the ending -ize (meaning 'to make' or 'to do'), so it originally means making or giving moral judgments. That's why moralizing usually means telling others what is right or wrong in a way that can feel bossy or self-righteous.