moralize
/'mɔrəlaiz/ Cách viết khác : (moralise) /'mɔrəlaiz/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb (transitive):
- To improve the morals of someone; to make someone more moral: The act of trying to make a person or group's behavior more ethical or virtuous.
- To interpret or explain the moral meaning of something: To draw out or discuss the ethical lesson or significance from an event, story, or situation.
Verb (intransitive):
- To speak or write about issues of right and wrong, often in a self-righteous or lecturing manner: To express moral judgments, typically in a way that is perceived as preaching or sermonizing.
Examples of Usage
Transitive verb:
- The fable was used to moralize the children about the dangers of greed.
- Critics often moralize the novel, focusing on its themes of justice and redemption.
Intransitive verb:
- He has a tendency to moralize about the behavior of younger generations.
- Instead of just listening, she always feels the need to moralize.
Advanced Usage
"to moralize at someone": To direct moralizing speech toward a specific person in a critical way.
- He's always moralizing at his colleagues about their work-life balance.
Used in a negative or critical sense to describe unwelcome or excessive preaching.
- The article doesn't just report the news; it moralizes endlessly about the decline of society.
Variants and Related Words
Moralizer (noun): A person who moralizes.
- He was seen as a tiresome moralizer.
Moralizing (noun/adj): The act or practice of moralizing; (as an adjective) having the character of a moral lecture.
- I'm tired of his constant moralizing.
- She dismissed his comments as moralizing rhetoric.
Moralization (noun): The process of moralizing; the act of interpreting something morally.
- The moralization of political discourse can be polarizing.
Synonyms
- Preach: To advocate for moral or religious principles, especially in a persistent or tedious way.
- Sermonize: To deliver or compose a sermon; to speak in a moralizing or lecturing manner.
- Pontificate: To express opinions or judgments in a dogmatic way.
- Lecture: To reprimand or advise at length.
Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions
- Moralize about/on/over: To speak or write moral judgments concerning a particular topic.
- Politicians often moralize about family values.
- He spent the evening moralizing on the state of modern art.
Related Idioms/Phrases
- To stand on a moral high horse: This idiom describes a person who moralizes in a superior, self-righteous way, which is often the perceived attitude of someone who moralizes excessively.
- She's always standing on her moral high horse, telling everyone else how to live.
Verb
- improve the morals of
- speak as if delivering a sermon; express moral judgements
- This man always sermonizes
- interpret the moral meaning of
- moralize a story