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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
Alex Ritman, Variety, 14 Jan. 2026
One taker was Fox News pundit Greg Gutfeld who credited Adams for changing his life.
—Brian Niemietz, Boston Herald, 13 Jan. 2026
These accounts have been widely shared and celebrated by liberal readers and pundits.
—Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
Bruce moonlights as a cable-news pundit and is the head of public relations at Westwin Elements.
—Tara Palmeri, Vanity Fair, 12 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pundit
Cite this Entry
“Pundit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pundit. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.
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