sermonic

Definition of sermonicnext
as in moralizing
marked by or given to preaching moral values the sermonic quality of many 19th-century novels written for young women

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sermonic
Adjective
  • Eliot departs here from the moralizing messages of Memling and La Tour.
    Literary Hub, 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
Adjective
  • The preacher’s experience, insights and emotions all come into play when composing the homiletic text.
    Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 6 July 2023
  • There’s a word for this style of narrative preaching—homiletic.
    Jo Livingstone, The New Republic, 6 Apr. 2021
Adjective
  • 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
  • The work blends seamlessly with Chef Paz's interior design and bears no didactic information or price tag, so it's rarely sold.
    Anya Sesay, jsonline.com, 21 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
Adjective
  • 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
  • Navy excels at untangling human emotions and picking through them without being didactic or moralistic.
    Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 10 June 2026
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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sermonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sermonic. Accessed 23 Sep. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!