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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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
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Arthur is … a lot too, but with a supercilious edge?—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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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
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And currently, there is Charles Gaines’ magisterial new works, Numbers and Trees, The Tanzania Baobabs, at Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood (on view through May 31, 2025).—
Tom Teicholz,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In 2019, a national survey of OB-GYN, internal medicine and family practice residency programs revealed that 20% of graduating residents had received no lectures on menopause, and 6.8% felt unprepared to care for menopausal patients.—
Elizabeth Yuko,
Flow Space,
20 June 2025
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Posted on YouTube, the 7-minute video features comedian Martin Herlihy holding a lecture before a group of high school students, with the goal of teaching them how to convince their parents to buy them a Mac for college.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
20 June 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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The structure is rigid and is sufficiently shielded against external electromagnetic interference to keep the audio signal as pure as possible.—
Mark Sparrow,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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Brazil's federal police also accused Luiz Fernando Corrêa, the head of the country's intelligence agency under Lula, of undue interference in investigations.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
20 June 2025
Adjective
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The protests proved conclusively that Americans will not tolerate the deployment of the U.S. military in American cities, the constant line-stepping over constitutional boundaries, the arrests of political dissenters, or the arrogant defense of police-state tactics.—
Newsweek Staff,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 June 2025
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In Aesop’s fable, the turtle (traditionally called a tortoise, which is a type of turtle) is a winner, a perpetual underdog who defeats the arrogant hare.—
A.O. Scott,
New York Times,
13 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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