1
as in moralizing
marked by or given to preaching moral values
a sententious crank who has written countless letters to the editor about the decline in family values
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in concise
marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
memoirs that are filled with sententious observations on love, marriage, and happiness
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sententious
This conclusion will shock anyone who knows Twain only through his writing, in which the author is wise and witty and, above all, devastating in his portrayal of frauds, cretins, and sententious bores.
—
Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 9 May 2025
Audiences have no choice but to exist in the theatrical moment, without recourse to linear logic, sententious language or psychological epiphanies.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2025
This is a bracing, even novel, perspective on a war whose film depictions so often traffic in sententious Greatest Generation platitudes.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Without the wit inherent in an epigram, a sententious formulation becomes a mere adage, aphorism, apothegm, gnome, maxim, or saw.
—Bryan A. Garner, National Review, 15 Sep. 2022
Instead each event—from lethal accidents to vicious murders to Category 5 hurricanes—is immediately sorted into its prelabeled moral narrative file, each one full of similarly useful sententious parables.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 30 May 2022
Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 9 May 2025
Audiences have no choice but to exist in the theatrical moment, without recourse to linear logic, sententious language or psychological epiphanies.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2025
This is a bracing, even novel, perspective on a war whose film depictions so often traffic in sententious Greatest Generation platitudes.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2024
Without the wit inherent in an epigram, a sententious formulation becomes a mere adage, aphorism, apothegm, gnome, maxim, or saw.
—Bryan A. Garner, National Review, 15 Sep. 2022
Instead each event—from lethal accidents to vicious murders to Category 5 hurricanes—is immediately sorted into its prelabeled moral narrative file, each one full of similarly useful sententious parables.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 30 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sententious
Adjective
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Full color pages, informative charts and concise articles also set the outlet apart from others.—
Ralphie Aversa,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
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Nor does the starring vehicle for Alexandra Daddario offer a concise, specific take to differentiate itself from Rice’s original — its own version of making Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) a Black man who falls in love with his maker.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The peace declaration included a commitment to withdraw heavy weapons from the border, de-mining efforts, and to de-escalate tensions that erupted into the brief but deadly border conflict.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
11 Nov. 2025
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An earlier, brief ceasefire between Pakistan and the TTP, brokered by Kabul in 2022, collapsed later after the group accused Islamabad of violating it.—
NPR,
NPR,
11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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But having the freedom to let the music breathe and develop allows the score to feel emotionally expressive, and never didactic.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
30 Oct. 2025
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Much of Iran’s clandestine cinema, including some of Panahi’s earlier works, is didactic, focused on valorizing the victims of the regime’s injustices.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Such rights obviously do not include summary execution at sea.—
Mary Ellen O'Connell,
The Conversation,
4 Sep. 2025
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Not surprisingly, given the risk of summary execution, many had initial doubts.—
Yossi Melman,
ProPublica,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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So, Schneider’s less aggressive moves that involved Day 3 picks are more instructive.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
28 Oct. 2025
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The result is short, lyrical narratives that aim to be enjoyable, uplifting, and emotionally instructive.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Taken together, these triumphal and tragic elements constitute the ingredients for an epic historical narrative that defies all moralistic categories, a story rooted in the coexistence of grandeur and failure, brilliance and blindness, grace and sin.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
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Initially, bedtime stories tended to be moralistic tales designed to reinforce obedience and proper behavior.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sententious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sententious. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.
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