Polonius
noun
Po·lo·ni·us
pə-ˈlō-nē-əs 
: a garrulous courtier and father of Ophelia and Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet
Examples of Polonius in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The principal cast consists of: Jared Harris as Claudius, Nancy Carroll as Gertrude, Anton Lesser, as the Ghost/First Player, Elliot Levey playing Polonius, Kel Matsena as Horatio, Lewis Shepherd as Laertes, and Nia Towle as Ophelia.
—
Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 19 Feb. 2025
Roundup Editors’ Picks of 2022 Poetry, Polonius, and Prison: a collection of this year’s greatest hits from JSTOR Daily.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Daniel Pearce’s Polonius becomes heartwarming comic relief, his prolix speeches running together into an anxious, often hilarious slurry.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
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
His Polonius prates on foolishly without losing his essential dignity.
—Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2022
Daniel Pearce makes of Polonius a hilariously pedantic desk jockey and bad idea bear.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 June 2023
The guidelines ran for nearly three hundred characters, organized into nine parts, from the Party to Polonius and beyond: 1.
—Peter Hessler, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023
Sententious Polonius is now a church lady, Rabby (Benja Kay Thomas); her children are Opal (Adrianna Mitchell) and Larry (Calvin Leon Smith) instead of Ophelia and Laertes.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023
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Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 19 Feb. 2025
Roundup Editors’ Picks of 2022 Poetry, Polonius, and Prison: a collection of this year’s greatest hits from JSTOR Daily.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Daniel Pearce’s Polonius becomes heartwarming comic relief, his prolix speeches running together into an anxious, often hilarious slurry.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
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
His Polonius prates on foolishly without losing his essential dignity.
—Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2022
Daniel Pearce makes of Polonius a hilariously pedantic desk jockey and bad idea bear.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 28 June 2023
The guidelines ran for nearly three hundred characters, organized into nine parts, from the Party to Polonius and beyond: 1.
—Peter Hessler, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023
Sententious Polonius is now a church lady, Rabby (Benja Kay Thomas); her children are Opal (Adrianna Mitchell) and Larry (Calvin Leon Smith) instead of Ophelia and Laertes.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Polonius.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Polonius. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.
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