sermonize

American  

[sur-muh-nahyz] / ˈsɜr məˌnaɪz /

especially British, sermonise

verb (used without object)

sermonized, sermonizing

1. to deliver or compose a sermon; preach.

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verb (used with object)

sermonized, sermonizing

1. to give exhortation to; lecture.

sermonize British  

/ ˈsɜːməˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to talk to or address (a person or audience) as if delivering a sermon

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Other Word Forms

• sermonizer noun

Etymology

Origin of sermonize

First recorded in 1625–35; sermon + -ize

Example Sentences

Johnson said he didn’t mean to sermonize but it’s clear he’s the kind of artist who sees the stage as a pulpit and the arena as a church.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2024

This upcoming Easter Sunday, he intends to sermonize on which one would prevail.

From Washington Post • Apr. 7, 2020

With a zealous quickening, Brooks begins to sermonize, not about his own soul but the country’s.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 29, 2019

Hill has a salty beard, smiling eyes and booming voice to sermonize about the suffering he sees so often in the Shenandoah Valley.

From Washington Times • Nov. 12, 2018

In the other room the woman twists the dial, and voices sermonize from the speaker.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr