moralize
To make moral reflectionsTo make moral reflections (on, upon, about or over something); to regard acts and events as involving a moral.
» Your moralizing makes me want to puke.
Meaning
6 senses(intransitive)To make moral reflections (on, upon, about or over something); to regard acts and events as involving a moral.
(transitive)To say (something) expressing a moral reflection or judgment.
1929, Virginia Woolf, “Geraldine and Jane” in The Common Reader, Second Series, London: The Hogarth Press, 1935, p. 191, “The more one loves, the more helpless one feels”, she moralised.
(transitive)To render moral; to correct the morals of; to give the appearance of morality to.
(transitive)To give a moral quality to; to affect the moral quality of, either for better or worse.
(obsolete, transitive)To apply to a moral purpose; to explain in a moral sense; to draw a moral from.
(obsolete, transitive)To supply with moral lessons, teachings, or examples; to lend a moral to.
- improve the morals of
- interpret the moral meaning of
- speak as if delivering a sermon; express moral judgements
Examples
3 sentencesYour moralizing makes me want to puke.
Don't give some moralizing discourse.
The story of Grasshopper Green is full of lively humor and emphasizes the virtues of kindness and generosity without moralizing.
Origin
From Old French moraliser, equivalent to moral + -ize.From Old French moraliser, equivalent to moral + -ize.
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Forms
moralizes, moralizing, moralized, moralizedSynonyms
5 synonymsWord family
11 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle