preachiness
Unwanted moral lecturing
The quality of being preachy—lecturing others on morals or behavior in a tiresome, self-righteous way.
Preachiness is what makes an otherwise good movie feel like a sermon, or turns a friend's advice into an unwelcome homily: The film's preachiness undermined its message.
The word always carries disapproval.
Feigning moral superiority
- self-righteousSmugly certain of correctness
- holier-than-thouSmugly moralistic toward others
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
- pontificatingSpeaking pompously at length
smugness · condescending · patronizing · pious · priggish · pharisaical · puritanical · hectoring
Giving an instructive talk
- haranguingAggressively criticizing at length
- moralizingDelivering ethical lectures
- speechifyingDelivering pompous addresses
- grandstandingPerforming to impress onlookers
soapboxing · editorializing · expounding · declaiming · verbose · long-winded · tedious · repetitive
Lecturing on morals
- homileticRelating to preaching
- pulpitChurch speaking platform
- evangelizingPromoting religious conversion
- proselytizingSeeking converts zealously
exhortation · homily · piety · devotional · scriptural · gospel · ministerial · pastoral
Rigidly attached to doctrine
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- rigidUnable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
- obstinateFirmly refusing to yield
absolutist · ideological · uncompromising · intolerant · closed-minded · opinionated · zealous · fanatical
sanctimonious
Feigning moral superiority
- self-righteousSmugly certain of correctness
- holier-than-thouSmugly moralistic toward others
- judgmentalInclined to criticize others
pontificating · smugness · condescending · patronizing · pious · priggish · pharisaical · puritanical · hectoring · finger-wagging
lecturing
Giving an instructive talk
- haranguingAggressively criticizing at length
- moralizingDelivering ethical lectures
- speechifyingDelivering pompous addresses
grandstanding · soapboxing · editorializing · expounding · declaiming · verbose · long-winded · tedious · repetitive · droning
sermonizing
Lecturing on morals
- homileticRelating to preaching
- pulpitChurch speaking platform
- evangelizingPromoting religious conversion
proselytizing · exhortation · homily · piety · devotional · scriptural · gospel · ministerial · pastoral · zealotry
doctrinaire
Rigidly attached to doctrine
- inflexibleUnable to bend
- rigidUnable to bend
- unyieldingRefusing to give way
obstinate · absolutist · ideological · uncompromising · intolerant · closed-minded · opinionated · zealous · fanatical · partisan
- ego displaysarrogance, vanity, boasting, showboating, braggadocio
- hypocrisyhypocrisy, hypocrite, sanctimony, two-faced, self-righteousness
preachinesssubtlety
Fine distinction, easily missed
understatement · restraint · nuance · indirection · suggestiveness
preachinesshumility
Freedom from arrogance
unpretentiousness · modesty · self-deprecation · even-handedness · tolerance
preachinessmoral ambiguity
Unclear rightness or wrongness
open-endedness · moral complexity · amorality · descriptiveness · objectivity
preach, preacher, preaching, preachy, preached, preaches, preachers, sermonizes