moralize
[mawr-uh-lahyz, mor-]
- to reflect on or express opinions about something in terms of right and wrong, especially in a self-righteous or tiresome way.
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- to explain in a moral sense, or draw a moral from.
- to improve the morals of.
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Also especially British, mor·al·ise.
Origin of moralize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for moralizer
Historical Examples
"And with too good reason, sir," said Linton, assuming the look and air of a moralizer.
Roland CashelCharles James Lever
Still, he could not explain this to Charnock; he was not a moralizer or clever at argument.
The Girl From Keller'sHarold Bindloss
The moralizer was touched by a grenadier with the butt end of his musket, so that the "spirit fell into the ditch."
Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745.Mrs. Thomson
The old man looks eastward, and (for he is a moralizer) frames a simile of the stage coach and the sun.
The Toll Gatherer's Day (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
Brooke laughed softly, as he watched the water run down the moralizer's nose.
A Damaged ReputationHarold Bindloss
moralize
moralise
- (intr) to make moral pronouncements
- (tr) to interpret or explain in a moral sense
- (tr) to improve the morals of
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for moralizer
moralize
v.
c.1400, "expound or interpret spiritual or moral significance," from Old French moraliser and directly from Late Latin moralizare, from moralis (see moral (adj.)). Related: Moralized; moralizing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper