moralize
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to explain in a moral sense, or draw a moral from.
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to improve the morals of.
verb
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(intr) to make moral pronouncements
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(tr) to interpret or explain in a moral sense
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(tr) to improve the morals of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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unmoralizingadjective
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overmoralizeverb
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moralizinglyadverb
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overmoralizinglyadverb
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moralizationnoun
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moralizernoun
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have moralizedperfect
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has moralizedperfect 3rd person singular
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am moralizingprogressive 1st person singular
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is moralizingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been moralizingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been moralizingperfect progressive
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are moralizingprogressive
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moralizingparticiple
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moralizessingular 3rd person
Past
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had moralizedperfect
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had been moralizingperfect progressive
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were moralizingprogressive plural
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moralizedsimple
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was moralizingprogressive singular
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moralizedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of moralize
1350–1400; Middle English moralisen < Medieval Latin mōrālizāre. See moral, -ize
Explanation
When you moralize, you lecture someone about right and wrong, judging their decisions and actions. It’s just plain wrong for people to moralize! Oops. If you know someone who complains about "kids today" and pontificates about how things were in the past, adding an opinion of the proper way to act, you're familiar with the verb moralize. At the heart of moralize is moral, from the Latin root moralis, "proper behavior of a person in society," and someone who moralizes simply wants to share their own idea of what's moral — unfortunately, they tend to do it in an overly superior way.
Vocabulary lists containing moralize
As You Like It
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The Boy Who Dared
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Northanger Abbey
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Moralize who will; enough for me to hear with delight that deep-toned harmony, and to thrill with the strangeness of old things made new.
From By the Ionian Sea Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy by Gissing, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
