preachiness
Definition
Noun: The quality or state of being preachy; a tendency to lecture, moralize, or give unsolicited advice in a self-righteous or didactic manner.
Usage Examples
- (The author's constant moralizing annoyed readers.)
- (The ads feel like they are lecturing the audience.)
- (She spoke as if she were superior and teaching others a lesson.)
Advanced Usage
"to have a tone of preachiness": to speak or write in a way that implies moral superiority.
- His blog posts have an unmistakable tone of preachiness. (He writes as if he knows better than everyone else.)
"to avoid preachiness": to deliberately refrain from sounding didactic or self-righteous.
- The teacher tried to avoid preachiness while discussing ethics. (She presented ideas without lecturing the students.)
Variants and Related Words
Preachy (adj): inclined to moralize or lecture in a tiresome way.
- His preachy remarks made everyone uncomfortable. (His comments felt like a sermon.)
Preach (verb): to deliver a sermon or give moral advice, often in a pompous manner.
- She tends to preach about healthy eating at every dinner party. (She lectures others on the topic.)
Synonyms
- Didacticism: a style of writing or speaking that is intended to teach a moral lesson, often in a heavy-handed way.
- Moralizing: the act of expressing moral judgments or lessons, especially in a self-righteous way.
- Lecturing: the act of giving a long, critical speech about behavior or morals.
Related Idioms
"preach to the choir": to express opinions or arguments to people who already agree with you.
- Stop telling us to recycle — you're preaching to the choir. (We already share your views.)
"preach from a soapbox": to speak publicly about a controversial issue in a self-important or passionate way.
- He got on his soapbox and preached about government corruption. (He gave a lengthy, emotional speech.)