pontificating 1 of 3

adjective

Definition of pontificatingnext
as in hifalutin

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

pontificating

2 of 3

noun

as in moralizing

Synonyms & Similar Words

pontificating

3 of 3

verb

present participle of pontificate
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.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pontificating
  1. ranting
  2. supercilious
  3. magisterial
  4. lecture
  5. pontifical
  6. interference
  7. arrogant
  8. teaching
Verb
  • Last week, Fox premiered the new comedy Going Dutch, about a ranting conservative father (Denis Leary) forced to reconnect with his estranged liberal daughter (Taylor Misiak).
    Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • The Pats addressed two of their biggest needs, but instead in Tuesday’s paper there’s me, smiling in my headshot and ranting in print, a clueless dope.
    Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 12 Mar. 2024
Definition of ranting
Adjective
  • Still, in many voters’ minds, the association between Democrats and supercilious scolding seems hard to shake.
    Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
  • Even Lu, most closed and supercilious of the bunch, has weird, troubled reservoirs of shame that gradually start to froth and bubble.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
Definition of supercilious
Adjective
  • My Heart Skipped, the magisterial prison drama A Prophet or the equally bleak Palme d’Or winner Dheepan.
    Julian Sancton, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Jan. 2025
  • His magisterial trilogy, The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich in Power, and The Third Reich at War, is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the forces that shaped the world between the end of World War I and 1945.
    Jim Kelly, airmail.news, 10 Aug. 2024
Definition of magisterial
Noun
  • Central Florida Stamp Club: Meetings include auctions and informative lectures.
    Joe Rassel, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Jan. 2025
  • His campaigning—in the form of lectures and articles—did not qualify him as an author.
    Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025
Definition of lecture
Adjective
  • The prose is confiding and, in places, pontifical.
    Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2020
  • That revelation, coupled with other recent pontifical critiques, have quickly dissolved the notion that the Dec. 31 death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a symbolic leader of the church’s conservative wing, might lessen the opposition to Francis.
    Stefano Pitrelli, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2023
Definition of pontifical
Noun
  • McDuffie was called for pass interference five times and Jones was called for offsides five times.
    Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 17 Jan. 2025
  • President-elect Trump’s legal team submitted a written opposition Friday to the Georgia Supreme Court over Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s request to have the state’s high court review her removal from the former president’s 2020 election interference case.
    Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 17 Jan. 2025
Definition of interference
Adjective
  • Teamsters officials later complained that Harris, who would go on to lose all seven battleground states, was arrogant in her dealings with them.
    W. James Antle III, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 30 Dec. 2024
  • Russia, Iran, and many other countries criticize U.S. military interventions as arrogant, ignorant of local context, and unable to fashion either stable regimes or effective security structures.
    Alexander Baunov, Foreign Affairs, 26 Dec. 2024
Definition of arrogant
Noun
  • What are the cultural, economic, and political currents that led us here? Series Reading lists, discussion guides, syllabi, pedagogical essays, and other free teaching resources for higher ed and secondary school faculty.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Much of its fame comes from charismatic street vendors such as 40X, who spread the teachings of the late Minister Elijah Muhammad on city corners and at markets and fairs; those teachings include that the navy bean is a kind of superfood.
    Ahmed Ali Akbar, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
Definition of teaching
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near pontificating

pontificates

pontificating

pontoon

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“Pontificating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontificating. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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