moralization
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Explanation
When you endlessly lecture someone about what they should do to be a better, more ethical person, that's moralization. Many folk tales and fables conclude with a moral, a specific lesson to be learned, which is one kind of moralization: "Slow and steady wins the race!" If you judge other people's moral decisions, acting as if you're an expert on what's right and what's wrong, you are engaging in moralization of the most annoying kind. We can trace moralization back to the Latin root moralis, "proper behavior of a person in society."
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.
From diet and "lite" foods and drinks to expensive "superfoods," one constant across these changing trends has been the moralization of food as "good" or "bad."
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2023
However, tolerance is possible only if we reduce moralization on every point of difference.
From Scientific American • Mar. 2, 2021
That moralization wasn’t just around religion and health: it also incorporated our reverence for hard work.
From The Guardian • Nov. 28, 2016
That’s new, what seems to be in my view, a moralization of the legislation process.
From Time • Aug. 8, 2014
Moreover, the chief aim of education, of the moralization of character, is to divest actions of their quality of reflectiveness or intention.
From Determinism or Free-Will? by Cohen, Chapman
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.
