pundit

noun

pun·​dit ˈpən-dət How to pronounce pundit (audio)
1
: pandit
2
: a learned person : teacher
3
: a person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media : critic
punditry noun

Did you know?

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

a moral question that has puzzled the pundits throughout the ages the new mini laptop has gotten a thumbs-up from industry pundits
Recent Examples on the Web The recent apparent change in officiating has been noted by national pundits like Tom Haberstroh, Ethan Sherwood Strauss and Bill Simmons. Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024 Chega won 18%, a breakthrough for the radical right party and its leader, André Ventura, a former trainee priest and football pundit. Vasco Cotovio, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024 Both of the actresses received multiple awards for their performances in their respective films this awards season, but Gladstone was the one many pundits believed would win, especially following her SAG Award for the role. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024 But confounding the pundits, BMW’s strategy has paid off. Jack Ewing, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2024 Concerns about hacking sparked false claims from conservative pundits that voting machines deleted Trump votes and changed them to Biden. Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024 Predicting the future is a business unto itself with pundits, futurists, scientists, engineers, and more constantly sharing their musings the future. Deborah Wince-Smith, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Many pundits marked the moment as a turning point for his campaign, which would end with him as the Democratic nominee. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 29 Feb. 2024 In 2022, The Atlantic found that rage baiting was also a common tactic for far-right pundits and politicians to gain engagement. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pundit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Hindi paṇḍit, from Sanskrit paṇḍita, from paṇḍita learned

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pundit was in 1661

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Cite this Entry

“Pundit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pundit. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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