moralization

Other forms: moralizations

When you endlessly lecture someone about what they should do to be a better, more ethical person, that's moralization.

Many folk tales and fables conclude with a moral, a specific lesson to be learned, which is one kind of moralization: "Slow and steady wins the race!" If you judge other people's moral decisions, acting as if you're an expert on what's right and what's wrong, you are engaging in moralization of the most annoying kind. We can trace moralization back to the Latin root moralis, "proper behavior of a person in society."

Definitions of moralization

1. noun

   indulgence in moral pronouncements; the exposition (often superficially) of a particular moral code
   synonyms: moralisation, moralizing

   types:

   preachification

   moralization delivered tediously in a preachy manner

   type of:

   philosophizing

   the exposition (often superficially) of a particular philosophy
2. noun

   the act of making moral (or more moral)
   “for years she worked toward the moralization of English literature”

   synonyms: moralisation

   type of:

   reform

   a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses