Robin W. WinksJoseph Epstein
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We hate to drone on, so we’ll give you the TL;DR on pontificate. In ancient Rome, a pontifex (plural pontifices) was a member of an important council of priests. With the rise of Catholicism, the title pontifex was transferred to the Pope and to Catholic bishops. From pontifex, by way of Medieval Latin, comes the English verb pontificate, which in the early 1800s meant “to officiate as a pontiff”—that is, as a bishop or Pope. (Note that the noun pontificate, which refers to the state, office, or term of office of a pontiff had been borrowed directly from Latin in the 15th century.) By the late 1800s, pontificate was also being used derisively for lay individuals who spoke as if they had the authority of a member of the clergy. To this day the word connotes an air of spurious superiority—one might consider this sense of pontificate to be the spiritual forerunner of mansplain.
Examples of pontificate in a Sentence
Christopher Kamrani, New York Times, 14 May 2025
Denzel Washington pontificates on what actually matters in life in the new teaser for Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, which is loosely based on the 1963 Akira Kurosawa classic, High and Low.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 5 May 2025
Jenna Dejong, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 May 2025
Pope Francis was a man whose experience of the mercy of God profoundly shaped his entire life and deeply marked his twelve-year pontificate.
—Daniel Foster, National Review, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for pontificate
Cite this Entry
“Pontificate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pontificate. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pontificate
1 of 2 noun
pontificate
2 of 2 verb
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