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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as in hifalutin
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Dissimilar Words
as in moralizing
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pontificating
Verb
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Last week, Fox premiered the new comedy Going Dutch, about a ranting conservative father (Denis Leary) forced to reconnect with his estranged liberal daughter (Taylor Misiak).—
Daniel Fienberg,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Sep. 2019 -
The Pats addressed two of their biggest needs, but instead in Tuesday’s paper there’s me, smiling in my headshot and ranting in print, a clueless dope.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
12 Mar. 2024
Adjective
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Economics, that supercilious, take-me-seriously profession?—
Brian Domitrovic,
Forbes.com,
19 July 2025
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The show perpetuates corporate media’s retaliation against those who oppose its leftist, Marxist, Communist, socialist agenda — the ideological myth favored by superficial and supercilious showbiz types ever since All the President’s Men and Network.—
Armond White,
National Review,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Twain’s narrative boasts some—discrepancies is too magisterial a word … peculiarities, say.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2025
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Copy Facebook Pinterest Photo by An Rong Xu From my airplane window, the Pearl River unfurled from fogged mountains in a glossy, pale-blue ribbon, a magisterial curve of water that defined the landscape with its flow.—
Bonnie Tsui,
AFAR Media,
6 May 2025
Noun
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At one such gathering last year, a young aspiring academic sat before a tipsy crowd and delivered a lecture on Robin Hood.—
Abigail Ingram,
National Review,
28 July 2025
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The new approach doesn’t just end the lectures, but also the pretense that soft power was ever really about people’s dignity or freedom rather than about access and control.—
Rachel Marsden,
Hartford Courant,
27 July 2025
Adjective
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Related Articles For the past 40-plus years in the Philippines, Natori’s mother Angelita Cruz has been very close to the nuncios (who act as pontifical ambassadors), the designer said.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
Footwear News,
18 June 2025
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The only pontifical name that hasn't been used more than once is Peter, the name of the first pope, though there's no prohibition against doing so.—
Christopher Watson,
ABC News,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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That sweet spot between professionalism, entertainment and high-and-mighty disapproval?—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
19 June 2025
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Lots of high-and-mighty people populate Tyrrell’s recollections.—
John Fund,
National Review,
26 Nov. 2023
Noun
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Companies like Paramount, and billionaires like Jeff Bezos, may fear interference in everything from mergers to drug regulation to space flight.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
28 July 2025
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Like your ego almost has to move out of the way and make room for the exchange to take place without interference.—
Steve Baltin,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
Adjective
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Christopher McDonald plays Happy’s comically villainous, arrogant rival Shooter McGavin, maestro of the finger guns.—
Skyler Trepel,
EW.com,
25 July 2025
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In addition to Sandler, the 2025 film also sees the return of several familiar faces, including Julie Bowen as Happy’s love interest, Virginia Venit; Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin, Happy’s arrogant nemesis; and Ben Stiller as Hal L., the orderly from Happy’s grandmother’s nursing home.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
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