Standard Lemma guide

moralist

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • CMU ARPABET: M AO1 R AH0 L IH0 S T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

One who bases all decisions on perceived morals, especially one who enforces them with censorship.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A teacher of morals; a person who studies morality; a moral philosopher.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

someone who demands exact conformity to rules and forms

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: martinet, disciplinarian

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: authoritarian, dictator

Narrower terms: stickler

4

noun

Meaning 4

a philosopher who specializes in morals and moral problems

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: philosopher

Narrower terms: egalitarian, equalitarian, elitist, utilitarian

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meh1-der. Proto-Italic *mōs Latin mōs Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin mōrālis Old French moralbor. Middle English moral English moral Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist English moralist From moral + -ist.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: моралист (moralist) — one driven by perceived morals
  • Catalan: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Cebuano: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Czech: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Czech: mravokárce — one driven by perceived morals
  • Dutch: moralist — one driven by perceived morals
  • Finnish: moralisti — one driven by perceived morals
  • French: moraliste — one driven by perceived morals
  • Galician: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • German: Moralist — one driven by perceived morals
  • German: Moralistin — one driven by perceived morals
  • Greek: ηθικολόγος (ithikológos) — one driven by perceived morals
  • Hungarian: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Hungarian: erkölcscsősz — one driven by perceived morals
  • Italian: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Kazakh: моральшы (moralşy) — one driven by perceived morals
  • Kazakh: моралист (moralist) — one driven by perceived morals
  • Latvian: morālists — one driven by perceived morals
  • Latvian: morāliste — one driven by perceived morals
  • Polish: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Polish: moralistka — one driven by perceived morals
  • Portuguese: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Spanish: moralista — one driven by perceived morals
  • Turkish: ahlakçı — one driven by perceived morals