moralize
verb (used without object)
to reflect on or express opinions about something in terms of right and wrong, especially in a self-righteous or tiresome way.
moralized
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past participleof moralize.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof moralize.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
moralizeverb (used without object)to reflect on or express opinions about something in terms of right and wrong, especially in a self-righteous or tiresome way.
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.
In speeches and community meetings, he paints a stark, moralized contrast between the businesses that invest in jobs and the sit-and-wait landowners whose paydays rely on others’ efforts.
From New York Times ● Nov. 12, 2023
When behaviors such as eating meat, cigarette smoking, premarital sex or religious schooling become moralized, they elicit powerful moral emotions, institutional action against the behavior, and even censure or condemnation from others.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 2, 2021
So, when you have that kind of society, what happens is … issues that used to be things you could compromise on become moralized in their form and therefore uncompromisable.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2020
I think that it should be a shades-of-gray thing about slower, faster, and not so moralized; granted that there are these difficult decisions around.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 30, 2019
He thinks about Gerhard, the way he locked up the radio for safekeeping, told Helmuth to leave it alone, the way he moralized to Helmuth.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
