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
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
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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As Wilson, Jenny Ashman is suitably snide and supercilious, a great comic villain.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
29 Jan. 2026
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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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Jackson is awarded a master of divinity degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary because his life experiences more than fulfill the requirements for his missing courses in pastoral care, preaching and international relations.—
Darcel Rockett,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Feb. 2026
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The idea that animals became transfixed by Francis’ preaching was reiterated in other devotional texts.—
Vanessa Corcoran,
The Conversation,
2 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Pity those, too, ranting about the impurity of his points.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Mar. 2026
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Out-of-work electrician Bart Ross, who had a long history of ranting against judges and lawyers, shot himself two days later during a traffic stop outside Milwaukee.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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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
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But the magisterial opera composer Franz Schreker was shattered by the events of 1933 and died of a stroke the following year.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 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
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This is where the sanctimony and the moralizing comes in.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The film’s use of religious imagery—in footage of the Islamic ritual tawaf on TV, in the positioning of speakers at the desert party like Catholic figurines on an altar—charges raving with a higher meaning.—
Álex Maroño Porto,
The Atlantic,
14 Mar. 2026
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These shoes have earned over 68,000 five-star reviews, with plenty of shoppers raving about their comfort and durability.—
Genevieve Cepeda,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Mar. 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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Borlaug made a point of agreeing with Ehrlich in his Nobel lecture, saying the Green Revolution was a temporary reprieve and that population control was also essential in the ongoing battle against hunger.—
The Conversation,
The Conversation,
16 Mar. 2026
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Two Catholic institutions have distanced themselves from the lecture series, which continues through Wednesday.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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