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
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
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
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As Wilson, Jenny Ashman is suitably snide and supercilious, a great comic villain.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
29 Jan. 2026
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And now the supercilious Ivy League twits try to dodge the consequences of their woke follies.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
24 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Jackson is awarded a master of divinity degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary because his life experiences more than fulfill the requirements for his missing courses in pastoral care, preaching and international relations.—
Darcel Rockett,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
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The idea that animals became transfixed by Francis’ preaching was reiterated in other devotional texts.—
Vanessa Corcoran,
The Conversation,
2 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Out-of-work electrician Bart Ross, who had a long history of ranting against judges and lawyers, shot himself two days later during a traffic stop outside Milwaukee.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Feb. 2026
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The first 10 minutes of the film are set in Norms, where a grungy man staggers in with a bomb, ranting about artificial intelligence.—
Fielding Buck,
Daily News,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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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
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But the magisterial opera composer Franz Schreker was shattered by the events of 1933 and died of a stroke the following year.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Her moralizing of Vernice’s character, which doesn’t happen in reverse, was fascinating to me.—
Tembe Denton-Hurst,
Vulture,
24 Feb. 2026
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This is where the sanctimony and the moralizing comes in.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Utopia Bedding 4-piece Bed Sheets Despite being just $15, countless shoppers can’t stop raving over these Utopia Bedding bed sheets—in fact, over 182,000 people have given them a five-star rating on Amazon.—
Jasmine Gomez,
Travel + Leisure,
16 Feb. 2026
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The internet can’t stop raving about K-beauty products—specifically about Medicube’s K-beauty products.—
Kyra Surgent,
InStyle,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The bishops further authorized a new edition of the Roman Pontifical for pontifical Masses, expected to be completed by 2027, with Vatican approval pending for some rites, according to the Catholic News Agency.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Nov. 2025
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In its report, the pontifical commission highlights failures in the Italian church.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Each course consists of a video lecture and ends with a quiz that must be passed to move on to the next unit.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Mar. 2026
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On opening weekend, guests can enjoy the opening ceremony, historic lecture, dinner, the Jockey Club opening and Kentucky Derby celebration, dancing with live music and other events.—
Jenna Prestininzi,
Freep.com,
2 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 8 Mar. 2026.
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