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.—
Chris Klimek,
The Atlantic,
23 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Draft a concise proposal and set measurable checkpoints for a decision‑maker, because clear milestones help busy people say yes without extra clarification.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
14 June 2026
-
Get concise answers to your questions.—
Dan Diamond,
Washington Post,
13 June 2026
Adjective
-
Navy excels at untangling human emotions and picking through them without being didactic or moralistic.—
Dash Lewis,
Pitchfork,
10 June 2026
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Yet Dupieux doesn’t stage any of this in a didactic or judgmental way.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
18 May 2026
Adjective
-
That brief relief seemingly ignored an announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just a few days earlier, that could create more intractable trouble for businesses in the months ahead.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
17 June 2026
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Having a holiday such as Juneteenth to celebrate allows for a brief respite—a pause—to recall how necessary Black Americans are to the very existence and survival of this country—then and now.—
Jennifer Rosen Heinz,
Parents,
17 June 2026
Adjective
-
The most instructive recent move was not the purchase of a club, or even a player transfer.—
Wael Mahdi,
semafor.com,
16 June 2026
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Thank you for your instructive letter about service dog responsibilities and etiquette.—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
14 June 2026
Adjective
-
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.—
Jeff McDonald,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
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Such rights obviously do not include summary execution at sea.—
Mary Ellen O'Connell,
The Conversation,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Navy excels at untangling human emotions and picking through them without being didactic or moralistic.—
Dash Lewis,
Pitchfork,
10 June 2026
-
Last year, a YouTube channel called Akhbar Enfejari (Explosive News) began posting a variety of digital content with a political and moralistic bent.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sententious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sententious. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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