- explaining or interpreting something in terms of right and wrong, especially in a self-righteous or tiresome way: They reject both the moralistic view of addiction as willful evil and the medical model of addiction as a disease.
- emphasizing morality, especially unduly; moralizing: She frowns on moralistic preaching that focuses on ethical duty divorced from the gospel of grace and gratitude.
- concerned with regulating the morals of others, as by imposing censorship or other restrictions: By trying to protect people from their own mistakes, moralistic laws prevent them from learning responsibility.
- relating to or being a philosopher or philosophy chiefly concerned with principles of morality: During this period of antiquity, a number of moralistic philosophies emerged at the same time in different parts of the world.
