SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
moralistic
adjective
Preoccupied with judging conduct by moral rules, often in a self-righteous or overbearing way.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Overly judgmental about morals
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topMoralistic usually criticizes the manner of judging; ethical and moral need not carry this negative tone.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See moralistic in use
The review became moralistic when it condemned the characters instead of examining how the story was written.
Another character adopted a moralistic tone, judging every misplaced comma as evidence of a defective character.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license