moralistic

[ mawr-uh-lis-tik, mor- ]

adjective

explaining or interpreting something in terms of right and wrong, especially in a self-righteous or tiresome way: They reject both the moralistic view of addiction as willful evil and the medical model of addiction as a disease.
emphasizing morality, especially unduly; moralizing: She frowns on moralistic preaching that focuses on ethical duty divorced from the gospel of grace and gratitude.

concerned with regulating the morals of others, as by imposing censorship or other restrictions: By trying to protect people from their own mistakes, moralistic laws prevent them from learning responsibility.
relating to or being a philosopher or philosophy chiefly concerned with principles of morality: During this period of antiquity, a number of moralistic philosophies emerged at the same time in different parts of the world.

Origin of moralistic

First recorded in 1840–45; moralist + -ic

This moralistic regime demonized gays while it hid true monsters.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero | Clive Irving | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Much of the series was turned over to moralistic preaching about the evils of premarital sex.
‘7th Heaven’ Dad Stephen Collins and the Christian Right’s Real Morality Tale | Amanda Marcotte | October 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
What Webb offers is a sobering, moralistic way of looking at the world.
Wait a Minute, Clinton Coronators—Here Comes Jim Webb | Eleanor Clift | September 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
This anti-moralistic political drama is a morality play on the value of political thought, and the importance of doing it well.
Daenerys Goes to Washington: The Modern Politics of ‘Game of Thrones’ | Jedediah Purdy | April 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
So, why is it, then that are there so few movies lately that are not jaded, tawdry, humorlessly moralistic, or amorally violent?
Whatever Happened to Great Holiday Films? | Liesl Schillinger | December 1, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

Carlyle remained a Puritan, without any dogmatic beliefs except a kind of moralistic pantheism.
The Victorian Age | William Ralph Inge
It is tragic that some would-be Christians, like Mrs. Strait, become so moralistic that they condemn rather than help people.
Herein is Love | Reuel L. Howe
How tight-shut, how moralistic, how overbearing these intellectuals with a mission!
Soliloquies in England | George Santayana
The latter then loses its peculiar flavor of the didactic and pedantic; its ultra-moralistic and hortatory tone.
Reconstruction in Philosophy | John Dewey
That is the reason why Mrs. Strait holds to the moralistic concept of the Christian life.
Herein is Love | Reuel L. Howe

Browse