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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pontificating
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
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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Klára works at a grocery store formerly owned by the family of her colleague Elza (Hermina Fátyol) but now taken over by a supercilious Stalinist (Konrád Quintus) who doesn’t bother hiding his disdain for the two Jewish women.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Aug. 2025
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The plot revolves around the attempts of various parties to get a hold of a Lakota ghost shirt that has come into the possession of a supercilious business tycoon and acquirer of rare artifacts, Pendleton Duvall (Toby Huss).—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Jim Bakker typically handled the preaching on the show while his wife did the singing.—
Adam Bell,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Sep. 2025
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Jud sees faith as redemptive, having turned to it after causing the death of a fellow boxer in his youth, while Wicks uses shame in his preaching.—
Esther Zuckerman,
Time,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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When someone is ranting and raving about you, ignore them.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
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Cheung played a tape of Nicholson ranting and raving at the Kaiser facility in Irvine.—
City News Service,
Oc Register,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Embarking on the Ofoten line at Bjørnfjell, the train ran at the edge of a cliff as the fjords emerged below, magisterial in their quiet movement.—
The Editors,
Outside,
31 Aug. 2025
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Her sound was magisterial and rich, a full-bodied account — until the very end.—
Hannah Edgar,
Chicago Tribune,
17 July 2025
Noun
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After all the moralizing from the media in the early days of COVID, under Biden everything was suddenly fine.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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Or the moralizing at the end of the show, when the audience, in sympathy with the Phantom, is asked to unmask.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
When someone is ranting and raving about you, ignore them.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
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That said, no one was raving about these shakes, either.—
Alaina Chou,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In its report, the pontifical commission highlights failures in the Italian church.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
16 Oct. 2025
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The sprawling roughly 2,000-year-old property includes ancient Roman archaeological sites, farmlands, pontifical villas and lush papal gardens, with areas for organic farming and regenerative cultivation.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Chapter Five is actually just a lecture that somebody gives—somebody who turns out to be the protagonist, Tunde.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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But at a lecture in Tel Aviv, Israel, about 25 years ago, the audience’s response took Lack by surprise.—
Meg Tirrell,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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