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
-
As Wilson, Jenny Ashman is suitably snide and supercilious, a great comic villain.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
29 Jan. 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
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My mother got fed up with my nonstop preaching.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
7 Apr. 2026
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The high court unanimously ruled in the case of Gabriel Olivier, who says his religious and free speech rights were violated when he was arrested for refusing to move his preaching away from a suburban amphitheater.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 Mar. 2026
Verb
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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
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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
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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
-
This is where the sanctimony and the moralizing comes in.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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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
-
The president of the United States is stark-raving mad.—
Robert B. Reich,
Hartford Courant,
16 Apr. 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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Monday’s lecture was a bit more heartfelt.—
Erin Vanderhoof,
Vanity Fair,
21 Apr. 2026
-
Like Secretary Shultz, Stan never once sat me down to give a lecture.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
21 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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