sermon
/ˈsəːmən
/noun
1A talk on a religious or moral subject, especially one given during a church service and based on a passage from the Bible: I preached my first sermon on original sin...
- Whether those attending religious services understand a sermon is evidently unimportant.
- Pastors' wives were known to preach sermons and conduct services whenever the pastor was serving another church within his multiple-congregation assignment.
- This perspective has ramifications for the counseling ministry of the church, for sermons and Christian education and for the life of Christians in communities of faith.
Synonyms
homily, address, speech, talk, discourse, oration;
lesson;
preaching, teaching
rare peroration
2 informal A long or tedious piece of admonition or reproof; a lecture: he understood that if he said any more he would have to listen to another lengthy sermon...
- What's often missing in these tedious sermons is the fun of these ads, the ridiculous enthusiasm and vivacity, and an appreciation for the artistry evident in every ad.
- This unpretentious poetess does not go about lecturing or delivering sermons in high places.
- Here's the crazed part: Despite such sober trends, the Times piece quickly turned into a sermon.
Synonyms
lecture, tirade, harangue, diatribe;
speech, disquisition, monologue, declamation, exhortation;
reprimand, reproach, reproof, scolding, admonishment, admonition, reproval, remonstration, upbraiding, castigation, lambasting, criticism, censure
informal spiel, telling-off, talking-to, rap over the knuckles, dressing-down, earful, roasting, bawling-out, blast, row
British informal ticking off, carpeting, rollicking, wigging
British vulgar slang bollocking
dated rating
Derivatives
sermonic
- Her voice was sermonic, hoarse from complaint.
- Besides sermonic techniques, she would have learned what was and was not acceptable as material for her prospective audience and how her strategies might be used to greatest effect.
- He illustrates his comments with brief sermonic examples.
Origin
Middle English (also in the sense 'speech, discourse'): from Old French, from Latin sermo(n-) 'discourse, talk'.