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It’s no hot take to say that the original pundits were highly learned scholars and teachers in India; it’s just a statement of fact. Our English word pundit comes from the Hindi word paṇḍit, a term of respect (and sometimes an honorary title) for a wise person, especially one with knowledge of philosophy, religion, and law; its ultimate source is the Sanskrit word paṇḍita, meaning “learned.” English speakers have used pundit to refer to sages of India since the 1600s, but as is typically done with English, they eventually pushed the word into new semantic territory. By the late 1800s, pundit could also refer to a member of what is sometimes called the commentariat or punditocracy—that is, the collective group of political commentators, financial analysts, and newspaper columnists often paid to share their views on a variety of subjects.
Examples of pundit in a Sentence
Judy Berman, Time, 26 June 2025
In what many pundits considered an upset, Tordillos eventually overcame a slight deficit on election night to overtake Matthew Quevedo, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s deputy chief of staff, by six votes.
—Devan Patel, Mercury News, 25 June 2025
Welcome back, Max Muncy At the end of April, may baseball pundits across the land called for the Dodgers to get rid of Max Muncy and trade for Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2025
In other words, day one was largely the success many Tesla pundits expected, given the restrictions Musk put in place to ensure safety, but one that nonetheless leaves room for improvement even before the service expands to more users.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 23 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pundit
Cite this Entry
“Pundit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pundit. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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