as in supercilious
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as in preaching
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as in ranting
disapproving
to speak or express your opinion about something in a way that shows that you think you are always right
We had to listen to her pontificate about the best way to raise children.
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Recent Examples of pontificating
Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026
Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Pamela Chelin, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2026
In the 1960s, Canadians hungered for public intellectuals pontificating on the distinctiveness of their identity.
—Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
Rather than the writer pontificating about how Pfleger needs to retire from active priesthood, how about a better use of his time by advocating the notion that pedophile priests should be retired to jail.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Oscar speeches can feel pontificating and pointless, a shout into the echo chamber.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026
Noun
If all that is a little too cerebral, viewers can wait out the pontificating until the next performance comes along.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Verb
Known as the Dragon Slayer, he’s often shown meditating, praying, waxing philosophical, and pontificating on nobility, integrity and honor.
—Pamela Chelin, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2026
In the 1960s, Canadians hungered for public intellectuals pontificating on the distinctiveness of their identity.
—Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
Rather than the writer pontificating about how Pfleger needs to retire from active priesthood, how about a better use of his time by advocating the notion that pedophile priests should be retired to jail.
—Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pontificating
Adjective
-
Characters are skewed not to create an evenhanded debate but to sensationalize one, with a young fact-minded novice looking to follow the rules is blindsided by a supercilious writer not willing to bend his vision to the needs of editors, fact checkers or even printers or distributors.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
21 Apr. 2026
-
And now the supercilious Ivy League twits try to dodge the consequences of their woke follies.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
24 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Her preaching emphasized themes of personal transformation, faith, health, and financial blessing, aligning her with the prosperity gospel movement.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
8 May 2026
-
Watch for intense preaching or over-defending beliefs.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Santat’s illustrations begin with straightforward, muted sincerity and become brighter, busier, and more gleeful—filling every corner of the page—as Sharpson’s narrator becomes ever more unhinged, ranting about fish spies, fish disguises, and fish taking over the world.—
Elise Broach,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Those are just a few of the questions that audience members are ranting and raving their way through while exiting the Hayes Theater.—
Shania Russell,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Zenyatta was such a filly, Seattle Slew was such a colt; more recently, the magisterial Flightline and Bill Mott’s tough late closer Sovereignty reassure us that the sport has much life yet in it, that our grand river of breeding stock is healthy and deep.—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2026
-
With this reinvention, the show morphed from a workplace drama into something more like a magisterial airport novel.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
2 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Her moralizing of Vernice’s character, which doesn’t happen in reverse, was fascinating to me.—
Tembe Denton-Hurst,
Vulture,
24 Feb. 2026
-
This is where the sanctimony and the moralizing comes in.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
And yet, here comes along Björk, not just cutting a stylish figure in the ensemble on a red carpet, but basically raving in it.—
Max Berlinger,
Vogue,
8 May 2026
-
Tamaki went on to open his own joint in 2018 in Tokyo, and acolytes have been raving about his creations ever since.—
Nicole Hoey,
Robb Report,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
Leo opened his visit to Pompeii by meeting with sick and disabled people who are cared for by a charity center affiliated with the sanctuary, which Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, declared a pontifical basilica in 1901.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 May 2026
-
That public spat has overshadowed his pontifical tour of four African countries, which ended Thursday with a Mass for thousands of people in Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea.—
Claudio Lavanga,
NBC news,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
On 28 August 1947, Gombrowicz gives a lecture.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 May 2026
-
In February 2024, professor Asaf Peer, an Israeli from Bar Ilan University, attempted to give a physics lecture at UNLV.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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