The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word PREACHY
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
P
R
E
A
C
H
Y
More clues leading to the result PREACHY
- Sanctimonious, before experiencing pain
- Sanctimonious pedantry ends with the involvement of authority
- Sanctimonious before feeling pain?
- Given to sermons a church introduced to quarry
- Inclined to admonish a child found in quarry
- Victim outside a church inclined to be moralistic
- Tediously moralistic, finding target outside a church
- Didactic, be nosy about a pop
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Sanctimonious" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case sanctimonious = preachy.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does PREACHY mean?
PREACHY adjective- Tending toward excessive moralization.