moralism

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The act or practice of moralizing (making moral reflections or judging the morality of…

   The act or practice of moralizing (making moral reflections or judging the morality of others).

   • It is a bitter fact of life that, despite the air of pious moralism that chokes this cramped town, a rich man’s mistress still counts for more than a hungry saint.
2. 2

   A maxim or saying believed by the speaker to embody a moral truth

   A maxim or saying believed by the speaker to embody a moral truth; an instance of moralizing.

   • There was a delicious spice of worldliness in the topics of conversation which was quite refreshing to him, accustomed as he was to the somewhat droning moralisms of his “congenial friends.”
   • Now is your chance, Europe. […] paddle your own canoe on a new sea, while clever America lies on her muck-heaps of gold, strangled in her own barbed wire of shalt-not ideals and shalt-not moralisms.
3. 3

   Religious practice that focuses on morality while placing little emphasis on doctrine or…

   Religious practice that focuses on morality while placing little emphasis on doctrine or the metaphysical; adherence to a system of morality with little or no reference to religion.

   • The scientific superiority of liberal theology, it is now said, is indeed incontestable, but its theological position is weak, for its moralism and humanism lack insight into the dæmonic character of human existence.

The neighborhood

• synonymmoralizing
• neighboramoralism
• neighborimmoralism
• neighbormoralise
• neighbormoralize
• neighbormoralist
• neighbormoralistic