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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
Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 11 June 2026
Becerra’s positioning as a comparative moderate on energy issues initially attracted skepticism among political pundits but may well have proved decisive.
—David Blackmon, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
Every year Close is among the first names that come up from pundits trying to predict overdue stars who could receive this award.
—Pete Hammond, Deadline, 10 June 2026
But the bans only enhanced his fame, with conservative pundits hailing him as a free-speech martyr.
—Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 8 June 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 15 Jun. 2026.
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