homiletic
adjective
Did you know?
Homiletic came to us by way of Latin from Greek homilētikos, meaning "affable" or "social." Homilētikos came from homilein, meaning "to talk with," "to address," or "to make a speech," which in turn came from homilos, the Greek word for "crowd" or "assembly." Homilos and homilein also gave English, by way of Latin homilia and French omelie, the word homily, which is used for a short sermon, a lecture on a moral theme, and an inspirational catchphrase or platitude. Like homily, homiletic focuses on the morally instructive nature of a discourse. Homiletic can also be used derogatorily in the sense of "preachy."
Synonyms
- didactic
- moralistic
- moralizing
- preachy
- sententious
- sermonic
Example Sentences
Jo Livingstone, The New Republic, 6 Apr. 2021 That interpretation of Kipling’s homiletic verse required her to overlook its gender-specific language, which is directed exclusively to boys who want to be men. Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 July 2019 There was no Jesus in that house, no Bible, no devotional materials of any kind, no crucifixes or homiletic asides, nothing. Stephen Metcalf, The New Yorker, 19 May 2017 Word History
Late Latin homileticus, from Greek homilētikos of conversation, from homilein
1644, in the meaning defined at sense 1
homiletic
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- sermonic
- moralizing
- prescriptive
- didactic
- moralistic
- preachy
- sententious
- instructive
- admonishing
- enlightening
- dogmatic
- dogmatical
- admonitory
- advisory
- cautionary
- self-righteous
- holier-than-thou