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
Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
Francis chose to use that platform to pontificate against the war in the Gaza Strip, for example, and even rebuked President Donald Trump’s stance on immigration.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 9 May 2025
Dario Artale, Chicago Tribune, 6 July 2025
Vatican officials are hoping that under Leo’s pontificate, with new financial controls in place and an American math major running the Holy See, donors will be reassured that their money won’t be misspent or mismanaged.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 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 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pontificate
1 of 2 noun
pontificate
2 of 2 verb
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