moralizing 1 of 3

as in sermonic
marked by or given to preaching moral values I found the novel's moralizing tone a bit much for beach reading

Synonyms & Similar Words

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moralizing

2 of 3

noun

moralizing

3 of 3

verb

present participle of moralize

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of moralizing
Adjective
Eliot departs here from the moralizing messages of Memling and La Tour. — Literary Hub, 31 Aug. 2026 Together with his lover Madame de Staël and their circle, Constant arrived at the idea—not in direct response to the Königsberg scandal but in response to the moralizing public absolutism of the age—that liberty required privacy to flourish. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 This is a radical concept in today’s mental health culture, shaped by social media’s moralizing and rampant shaming. — Josh Penn Soskin, Variety, 16 July 2026 Trey Parker and Matt Stone created a show directly informed by millennials and Gen Xers growing up in a culture of gun violence, fear, moralizing, bigotry, war and division. — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 29 June 2026 Most of the roughly 200 episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger have the moralizing flavor of after-school specials, albeit weirdly violent ones. — Chris Klimek, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026
Noun
Blown up for a movie-theater screen, what may have once played as a chilling enactment of justice is now more likely to receive rollicking laughter from its audience, so theatrical is Hansen’s moralizing. — Alex Jhamb Burns, Vogue, 25 Sep. 2026 Easy moralizing would be wrong, but moral indifference might be impossible. — David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026 Critically, the moralizing over climate change is gone. — Justin Worland, Time, 22 May 2026 Her moralizing of Vernice’s character, which doesn’t happen in reverse, was fascinating to me. — Tembe Denton-Hurst, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2026 This is where the sanctimony and the moralizing comes in. — Miami Herald, 28 Jan. 2026 But the framing of the piece skews moralizing and voyeuristic. — Rosa Lyster, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025 The host, Shaina Shealy, tells a complex, sometimes raw story, resisting easy moralizing about the lives of her subjects. — Benjamin Cannon, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025 Unfortunately, the bulk of the requisite moralizing falls mainly to Palmer’s socially conscious Elena, saddled with one too many speeches about making a difference, which puts a damper on the actress’ customary energetic spark. — Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for moralizing
Adjective
  • Thou Shalt Not Steal, which launches on October 6, is a coming-of-age, roadtrip, moralistic odyssey about the lies people tell themselves and each other.
    — Peter White, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026
  • If the senator’s moralism has been unfettered by his stroke, with a shift toward right-brain moralistic processing, that does not diminish his sincere intent or its effect.
    — Michael P.H. Stanley, STAT, 10 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Falwell’s preaching struck me as the antithesis of those values.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Worship centers on prayer, the reading and preaching of scripture, congregational singing, and the celebration of the Eucharist.
    — Stephanie TriplettAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The bald guy lecturing me on how to get the money looked real enough, but the question of his true being kept rattling around my increasingly paranoid mind.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Especially for him in the same interview to be lecturing my party on democracy and norms.
    — NBC news, NBC news, 6 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Their version is irreverent, but less conceptual and didactic about its sense of humor.
    — José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Still, an air of artificiality and sometimes theatricality does pervade his talky, often didactic scenes, which actually plays to the benefit of the performances — especially from Huston.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • If all that is a little too cerebral, viewers can wait out the pontificating until the next performance comes along.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • In the final stretch of his coaching run, Pop became almost as famous for his preachy political lectures at the press podium.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
  • That includes the power outage shutting down cell phone networks and Sunburn deliberately not being preachy about the often-talked about mental health risks for young people from excessive technology use.
    — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Duckworth also faced backlash from critics who argued that her message was, at best, a series of hollow exhortations to simply try harder and, at worst, an insidious form of victim-blaming that ignored structural inequality.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • His character is a severe, hectoring figure; his lessons amount to an exhortation to be as mean as possible when money is concerned.
    — Christopher Cox, Vanity Fair, 26 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Some of the comments could have been kinder or more civil, but many others are both instructive and nuanced.
    — the Monitor's Editorial Board, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Doris Sommer’s Bilingual Aesthetics was instructive for me here.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Moralizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/moralizing. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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