1
as in homiletical
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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Recent Examples of sententious
This is a bracing, even novel, perspective on a war whose film depictions so often traffic in sententious Greatest Generation platitudes.
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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
These are the sententious keynote presentations, used to dazzle investors or recruit employees, that try to get a startup to seem like a holy mission.
—Wired, 22 Oct. 2019
What’s more, Charles’s sententious interpretation of noblesse oblige leaves him open to the charge of overstepping the constitutional boundaries of his position.
—Zoë Heller, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2017
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
These are the sententious keynote presentations, used to dazzle investors or recruit employees, that try to get a startup to seem like a holy mission.
—Wired, 22 Oct. 2019
What’s more, Charles’s sententious interpretation of noblesse oblige leaves him open to the charge of overstepping the constitutional boundaries of his position.
—Zoë Heller, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sententious
Adjective
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Anika Dhar My opening note at final Tribal will be clear and concise.Dalton Ross, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2024
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Families can type or speak questions into a chat box, and Allison responds immediately with concise, reliable answers.Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
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Unique Fraud Challenges By Industry A brief look at the top challenges several industries are experiencing showcases the span and scope of fraudulent attack vectors and the different priorities.Tamas Kadar, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
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With Bill Belichick set to prowl the sidelines again after a brief post-Pats cooldown period, the 72-year-old mastermind joins an elite club of former head coaches who’ve used media as a launching pad for a return trip to the X’s and O’s.Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 13 Dec. 2024
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It was delivered to the Task Force five days past the deadline, and contained less than four and half pages, more than half of which consisted of summary narratives.Chris Pandolfo, Fox News, 19 Nov. 2024
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The hermit kingdom is known for summary executions, abducting foreign citizens, and for hacking entertainment giant Sony.Sarah E. Mendelson, Foreign Affairs, 28 May 2015
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Neither didactic nor gratuitous, these questions are neatly streamed into the screenplay and will enhance the film’s appeal for many viewers.Richard Kuipers, Variety, 29 Oct. 2024
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Roots of the New York School: The Foundations of American Modernism is a madly didactic abstraction that looks further back in time to artists and collectors like Duchamp, Rothko, Betty Parsons, Peggy Guggenheim, and Lee Krasner.Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The results will notably cover some of the important holiday shopping period, and management’s commentary on shopper behavior in the quarter — and what is expected in the coming weeks — will be instructive.Paulina Likos, CNBC, 10 Dec. 2024
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The research showed forcing out Mexicans was similar to blocking Chinese immigrants decades earlier, instructive given that the Peri, Lee and Yasenov study used different data and focused on a different group and period.Stuart Anderson, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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And understanding that pleasure and pain relief are not necessarily joined at the hip might help the rest of us be less moralistic about adversity in everyday life.Richard A. Friedman, The Atlantic, 29 Nov. 2024
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As if predicting this kind of encounter, Kyunghee is moralistic about Sunja’s decision to let Mozasu work in what is seen as an ignoble business, the haunt of gangsters and ne’er-do-wellers.Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near sententious
Cite this Entry
“Sententious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sententious. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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