1
as in moralizing
marked by or given to preaching moral values
a sententious crank who has written countless letters to the editor about the decline in family values
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in concise
marked by the use of few words to convey much information or meaning
memoirs that are filled with sententious observations on love, marriage, and happiness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sententious
This conclusion will shock anyone who knows Twain only through his writing, in which the author is wise and witty and, above all, devastating in his portrayal of frauds, cretins, and sententious bores.
—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
Audiences have no choice but to exist in the theatrical moment, without recourse to linear logic, sententious language or psychological epiphanies.
—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Mar. 2025
This is a bracing, even novel, perspective on a war whose film depictions so often traffic in sententious Greatest Generation platitudes.
—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2024
Without the wit inherent in an epigram, a sententious formulation becomes a mere adage, aphorism, apothegm, gnome, maxim, or saw.
—
Bryan A. Garner,
National Review,
15 Sep. 2022
Instead each event—from lethal accidents to vicious murders to Category 5 hurricanes—is immediately sorted into its prelabeled moral narrative file, each one full of similarly useful sententious parables.
—
Gerard Baker,
WSJ,
30 May 2022
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
Audiences have no choice but to exist in the theatrical moment, without recourse to linear logic, sententious language or psychological epiphanies.
—
Charles McNulty,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Mar. 2025
This is a bracing, even novel, perspective on a war whose film depictions so often traffic in sententious Greatest Generation platitudes.
—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2024
Without the wit inherent in an epigram, a sententious formulation becomes a mere adage, aphorism, apothegm, gnome, maxim, or saw.
—
Bryan A. Garner,
National Review,
15 Sep. 2022
Instead each event—from lethal accidents to vicious murders to Category 5 hurricanes—is immediately sorted into its prelabeled moral narrative file, each one full of similarly useful sententious parables.
—
Gerard Baker,
WSJ,
30 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sententious
Adjective
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Most of the roughly 200 episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger have the moralizing flavor of after-school specials, albeit weirdly violent ones.
Adjective
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From defining an impact thesis to developing an investment process, the roadmap outlines five concise steps for integrating aging considerations into long-term investment strategies.
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Use concise bullet points and focus on what actually matters in the day-to-day role.
Adjective
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The landscape is didactic, insistent.
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Navy excels at untangling human emotions and picking through them without being didactic or moralistic.
Adjective
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For a team that began the season with off days coming at a premium, a brief stretch with two open dates is a respite from the wear and tear of a long season.
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So far, operations have run relatively smooth, save for a brief power outage that led to a pretzel shortage.
Adjective
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The case of Okinawa, a group of relatively poor islands in the south of Japan, is instructive.
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The Australia Reality Check Australia implemented a similar ban in December 2025, and the results are instructive.
Adjective
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The judge considered hundreds of pages of evidence and testimony from San Diego officials, homeowners and their lawyers and determined that the city had not met the burden for what is called summary adjudication in any of the five causes of actions.
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Such rights obviously do not include summary execution at sea.
Adjective
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Navy excels at untangling human emotions and picking through them without being didactic or moralistic.
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Last year, a YouTube channel called Akhbar Enfejari (Explosive News) began posting a variety of digital content with a political and moralistic bent.
Cite this Entry
“Sententious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sententious. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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