homily
Moralizing church talk
A homily is a sermon or religious discourse, typically one explaining a scriptural passage to a congregation.
Outside church contexts, homily often carries a dismissive tone—a tedious lecture on morals or behavior: She launched into her usual homily about the importance of hard work.
The word suggests earnest but unwelcome moralizing.
Church speaking platform
- preacherReligious sermon deliverer
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- scriptureSacred religious writings
- liturgyFormal worship structure
homiletics · clergy · gospel · parish · pastor · minister · church · Sunday
Study of right conduct
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- righteousnessMoral correctness or virtue
- principlesFoundational moral beliefs
- integrityMoral soundness and consistency
conscience · duty · justice · honesty · fairness · responsibility · compassion · temperance
Profession of instructing others
- instructiveServing to teach
- edifyingIntellectually or morally uplifting
- pedagogicRelating to teaching
- expositoryServing to explain
explanatory · illuminating · preceptive · moralizing · lecturing · preachy · sententious · platitude
Trust without proof
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- prayerAddress to deity
- pietySincere religious devotion
- holinessSacred spiritual purity
sanctity · reverence · salvation · grace · redemption · transcendence · providence · meditation
pulpit
Church speaking platform
- preacherReligious sermon deliverer
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- scriptureSacred religious writings
liturgy · homiletics · clergy · gospel · parish · pastor · minister · church · Sunday · Mass
ethics
Study of right conduct
- virtueMoral goodness or merit
- righteousnessMoral correctness or virtue
- principlesFoundational moral beliefs
integrity · conscience · duty · justice · honesty · fairness · responsibility · compassion · temperance · prudence
teaching
Profession of instructing others
- instructiveServing to teach
- edifyingIntellectually or morally uplifting
- pedagogicRelating to teaching
expository · explanatory · illuminating · preceptive · moralizing · lecturing · preachy · sententious · platitude · truism
faith
Trust without proof
holiness · sanctity · reverence · salvation · grace · redemption · transcendence · providence · meditation · sacred
boring
Failing to engage interest
- monotonousUnchangingly dull
- dullLacking edge or interest
- long-windedExcessively wordy, tediously so
dry · prosaic · tiresome · wearisome · dreary · plodding · droning · rambling · preachy · hackneyed
- Christian booksBible, devotional, prayer book, study Bible, hymnal
- Catholic textsmissal, missals, catechism, catechisms, breviaries
- church booksBible, missal, hymnal, missals, prayer book
- churchnave, pew, pews, altar, altars
- proverbsproverbs, sayings, maxims, adages, aphorisms
- writingsessay, essays, article, articles, stories
homilydialogue
Spoken exchange between parties
conversation · discussion · exchange · debate · colloquy
homilyprofundity
Intellectual or emotional depth
deep meditation · dialectic · subtlety · intellectual challenge · intellectual rigor