moralist

[ mawr-uh-list, mor- ]

noun

1. a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
2. a philosopher concerned with the principles of morality.
3. a person who practices morality.
4. a person concerned with regulating the morals of others, as by imposing censorship.

moralist

/ ˈmɒrəlɪst /

noun

1. a person who seeks to regulate the morals of others or to imbue others with a sense of morality
2. a person who lives in accordance with moral principles
3. a philosopher who is concerned with casuistic discussions of right action, or who seeks a general characterization of right action, often contrasted with a moral philosopher whose concern is with general philosophical questions about ethics

Derived Forms

• ˌmoralˈistically, adverb
• ˌmoralˈistic, adjective

Other Words From

• mor·al·is·tic [mawr-, uh, -, lis, -tik, mor-], adjective
• an·ti·mor·al·ist noun adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of moralist¹

First recorded in 1615–25; moral + -ist

Example Sentences

Nixon-the-pragmatist appointed drug rehabilitation experts, not anti-drug moralists, to lead his fight.

From Washington Post

Between a secular moralist and an ideologue, there is a softer, more human middle that Soyinka occupies.

From The Daily Beast

It took the September 11 attacks for someone—Bush was always a closet moralist—to step forward.

From The Daily Beast

On Monday, Crist tried to play the moralist, saying, “When people lie and steal, there is a price to pay.”

From The Daily Beast

Just as in their politics, when it comes to process, Romney versus Santorum is a fight between the technocrat and the moralist.

From The Daily Beast

Those who live by junk journalism, the moralist in me proclaims, shall die by junk journalism.

From The Daily Beast

The critical moralist pauses before the formidable array of the entire social world, civilized and savage.

From Project Gutenberg

He was not a dialectician, but a moralist, and as such takes the highest ground of all the old inquirers after truth.

From Project Gutenberg

Surely the most strict moralist would confess, that I was released from my engagements!

From Project Gutenberg

But he was always essentially a moralist, whose business 255 was to find a practical, popular, effective rule of conduct.

From Project Gutenberg

Here the unfortunate Savage has held his intellectual "noctes" and enlivened the old moralist with his mad philosophy.

From Project Gutenberg