professorial

adjective

ˌprō-fə-ˈsȯr-ē-əl 

ˌprä-

: of, relating to, characteristic of, or resembling a professor

professorial duties

professorial authority

a calm, professorial manner

Johnson was professorial in his approach to the game. He could talk for hours on the nuances of the Czechoslovak national team's power play.

—E. M. Swift

professorially

ˌprō-fə-ˈsȯr-ē-ə-lē 

ˌprä-

adverb

… a tall man with professorially thick glasses and graying, tangled hair …

—John Seabrook

Examples of professorial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Masud Husain is a professor of neurology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Oxford and a professorial fellow at New College, Oxford. —Big Think, 14 Apr. 2026

And Rachel Weisz is very professorial in all those gently eccentric power separates. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 10 Apr. 2026

An English professor at Harvard and the author of two acclaimed novels, The Old Drift (2019) and The Furrows (2022), Serpell combines a professorial breadth of reference and a novelist’s fascination with the mechanics of literature. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026

Learning to Engage McMillon has an almost professorial air that’s articulate, polite and exudes competence — but his skill set was honed by long years of experience. —Evan Clark, Footwear News, 3 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1713, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for professorial

• arboreal
• armorial
• authorial
• factorial
• manorial
• memorial
• pictorial
• sartorial
• sectorial
• tutorial
• vectorial
• ambassadorial