as in supercilious
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in preaching
Related Words
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.
Related Words
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 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.
—Noun
If all that is a little too cerebral, viewers can wait out the pontificating until the next performance comes along.
—Verb
In the 1960s, Canadians hungered for public intellectuals pontificating on the distinctiveness of their identity.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for pontificating
Adjective
-
And now the supercilious Ivy League twits try to dodge the consequences of their woke follies.—
-
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.—
Noun
-
If a team gets in the red zone five times and kicks five field goals, Singleton remembers Joseph preaching, what’s the score?—
-
Officials in these countries say the Brotherhood uses a blend of religious preaching, political activism, charitable institutions and media platforms to shape public opinion and challenge state authority.—
Verb
-
In two minutes of ranting and raving about his degenerate son’s twenty-six-thousand-dollar dinner bill, Reiner gave an indelible comedic performance destined to be quoted for years to come.—
-
At another time, a perpetually anxious comedian who can’t keep from ranting about his paranoid worries about the end of the world probably would not feel like such a helpful guide to life.—
Adjective
-
Passmore’s magisterial, revisionist account of the Maginot Line—the network of French fortifications built in the 1920s and 1930s to stop a German invasion—challenges the conventional understanding of its role in World War II.—
-
However, Orphans' Court, the Pittsburgh Municipal Court, and all magisterial district courts in the county will remain open.—
Noun
-
But the framing of the piece skews moralizing and voyeuristic.—
-
The host, Shaina Shealy, tells a complex, sometimes raw story, resisting easy moralizing about the lives of her subjects.—
Verb
-
Calling the show a gay hockey romance doesn't quite capture just why fans are raving about it.—
-
Leonardo DiCaprio leads the film alongside Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn, leaving critics, including our own, raving all awards season.—
Adjective
-
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.—
-
In its report, the pontifical commission highlights failures in the Italian church.—
Noun
-
The shelving unit that contains some of his collection of roughly 20,000 books stretches to the ceiling of the two-story living room; McDaniel would later perch on its narrow catwalk to deliver his lecture.—
-
Very few people want to buy a ticket for a lecture on overconsumption, corporate exploitation, and the dumbing down of public discourse.—
Cite this Entry
“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share