sententious 1 of 2

sententiousness

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noun

as in concision
the quality or state of being marked by or using only few words to convey much meaning the sententiousness of the state's motto, "Live Free or Die," has not rendered it any less controversial

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sententious
Adjective
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 Only the vivid image of the warped planks keeps this remark from being the type of sententious counsel that Polonius might have given his son. Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023 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 Dialogue is rendered in the pseudo-profound pronouncements that have become the sententious lingua franca of the hero’s quest. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2022 This melodramatic narrative fits right into American indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt’s domain, but Francis Lee is a less sententious proselytizer for gay life. Armond White, National Review, 13 Nov. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sententious
Adjective
  • This epic yet concise 90-minute local history melange is told through short vignettes.
    Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 25 June 2025
  • Complex questions produced up to six times more carbon dioxide emissions than questions with concise answers.
    CNN.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 25 June 2025
Noun
  • This interview has been edited and condensed for concision and clarity.
    Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 12 June 2025
  • This conversation has been edited and condensed for concision and clarity.
    Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • After earning a reputation as a tackling machine at Syracuse, Clark signed with the Cowboys and quickly saw some brief work with the first-team unit during minicamp while Wilson was sidelined.
    Nick Harris July 11, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 July 2025
  • Consider what those two third graders learned in their brief hallway squabble.
    Russell Shaw, The Atlantic, 11 July 2025
Adjective
  • Human Rights Watch said M23’s efforts to consolidate control of Goma have involved possible war crimes, including the summary execution of civilians in February.
    Michela Wrong, NBC news, 6 June 2025
  • Unlike traditional employee income, business income does not always come with summary tax forms like the W2 at the end of the year.
    Vlad Rusz, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
Adjective
  • Thankfully, Keller’s scripts aren’t as twee or didactic about this stuff as Lasso and Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence’s tend to be.
    Judy Berman, Time, 4 June 2025
  • Nautilus is bold in its changes to Captain Nemo’s story — new monsters, new villains — but imitative to other genre series in execution, and the vibe is a little didactic.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 June 2025
Adjective
  • The timeline of Isaacman's nomination for NASA administrator is instructive.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 26 June 2025
  • Here, the experience of Hefei, a Chinese city that has become a manufacturing center for electric vehicles—akin to a twenty-first-century Detroit—might be instructive.
    Damien Ma, Foreign Affairs, 23 June 2025
Adjective
  • But Europeans cannot simply revert to a moralistic tendency to tell others what to do.
    Josep Borrell Fontelles, Foreign Affairs, 27 June 2025
  • The same moralistic spirit that once defined Minnesota’s politics now fuels passionate polarization.
    David Schultz, New York Daily News, 17 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Sententious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sententious. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.

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