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
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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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Clear, commanding and concise instructions.—
Andy McGrath,
New York Times,
28 Feb. 2026
-
Get concise answers to your questions.—
Phil Davison,
Washington Post,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The Suns opened the fourth with a 9-0 run, but a 3-pointer by Harper, followed by an and-one White floater and another three by Scheierman, snuffed out the brief rally.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
25 Feb. 2026
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Our snow chances are set to return on Sunday, with a brief round of morning snow looking possible according to model data.—
Ron Smiley,
CBS News,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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If these scenes feel a bit didactic, hammering home everything from the shortage of nurses with SANE training to the dozens of regulations SANEs must follow to protect evidence, their lessons serve as a corrective for many of us who’ve absorbed decades’ worth of rape-as-entertainment.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
27 Feb. 2026
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Constipation and Digestion Issues There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble, and both play important roles in regular bowel movements, says Laurie Allen, RDN, LDN, professor of nutrition and director of didactic program in dietetics nutrition at UNC Greensboro.—
Kirsten Nunez,
Martha Stewart,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Such rights obviously do not include summary execution at sea.—
Mary Ellen O'Connell,
The Conversation,
4 Sep. 2025
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Not surprisingly, given the risk of summary execution, many had initial doubts.—
Yossi Melman,
ProPublica,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Trump has, on more than one occasion, declared that tariff is his favorite word—an odd but instructive choice.—
Jonathan Lemire,
The Atlantic,
24 Feb. 2026
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Why This Research Stands Out for AI Applications For anyone tracking how AI is being applied outside its usual domains of business optimization and data analytics, this research offers a specific and instructive case study.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The United States went to war in 2001 and 2003 with a very moralistic, very crusading view of war, a very black-and-white view that there were good guys and bad guys, and America would wield the swift sword of justice.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
10 Jan. 2026
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To rebuild a consensus, politicians must thus appeal to these swing voters by eschewing moralistic and globalist rhetoric.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
16 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sententious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sententious. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
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