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
-
There’s no outright preaching, no plea to condemn or sympathize either way.—
David Opie,
IndieWire,
15 Apr. 2026
-
But his preaching of Black supremacy stirred concern in both the white community and the civil rights movement.—
Tracy Grant,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
14 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
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Shoppers are raving about this $7 kneeling pad that cushions aging knees against hard, damp, and dirty ground.—
Jill Layton,
PEOPLE,
27 Apr. 2026
-
For years, he has been sequestered in their house, ranting, raving and writing nonsensical math equations in hundreds of notebooks.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
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
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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
Noun
-
Chapman’s lecture was one of several sessions making up the first day of Screen Forever 40, the three-day industry conference marking the 40th edition of the Screen Producers Australia gathering.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
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Audiences are now challenging the media’s monopoly and the top-down lecture modes of addressing viewers and readers, which in some cases can present ethical challenges.—
Shepherd Mpofu,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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