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

Explanation

To sermonize is to lecture someone in the style of a minister delivering a sermon. The best teachers don't sermonize; they talk to students in a sincere and straightforward way. If you tell someone at length what they should do, especially if there's plenty of judgment and moral superiority in your speech, you sermonize. This verb can also be used simply to mean "give a sermon," so you could also say that you like church because your minister sermonizes so well. This was the earliest meaning of sermonize, which comes from the Latin sermo, "speech, conversation, or talk."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sermonize sermonized sermonizing

As with his live-action efforts, Peele never sought to sermonize but only to spark dialogue about important social topics.

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2022

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

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2020

His family attended weekly Mass to hear McGuire sermonize and took part in his spiritual retreats, events where McGuire began to acquire a cult-like following.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 30, 2019

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

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 29, 2019

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

“Haha You Clowns” isn’t like the old “Davey and Goliath” or “South Park,” which purposely sermonized.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025

The Rev. Charles Cannon, pastor at St. Hilary’s Episcopal Church, sermonized about the temporariness of the community’s losses.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 3, 2022

“This is a driver for the entire United States economy,” O’Rourke sermonized to a crowd packed into the banquet hall at the Social Club in Edinburg.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2018

Catholic priests sermonized against the Molly Maguires, taking instructions from Philadelphia Bishop James Frederick Woods, who excommunicated them.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 30, 2018

Her religious views had modified since the days long past when she had sermonized so earnestly to George Blood.

From Mary Wollstonecraft by Pennell, Elizabeth Robins

But Perkins hops so quickly from one outrageous death to another that his screenplay leaves little room for rumination amid his constant fatalist sermonizing.

From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2025

At times, Christian movies can feel formulaic and forced, sometimes preferring sermonizing to storytelling.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 24, 2023

Are viewers craving more carnage and darkness or cable news sermonizing?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2023

“Leaf skillfully engages with larger social issues while steering clear of the kind of sermonizing that too often seeps into similarly themed dramas,” she added.

From New York Times ● May 24, 2023

"The author scarcely had a thought of sermonizing his readers, but each of these little stories presents a moral not easily overlooked, and whose influence lingers with those who read them."

From The Green Carnation by Hichens, Robert Smythe