sententious

adjective

sen·ten·tious sen-ˈten(t)-shəs

Synonyms of sententious

: given to or abounding in aphoristic expression

: given to or abounding in excessive moralizing

: terse, aphoristic, or moralistic in expression : pithy, epigrammatic

sententiously adverb

sententiousness noun

Did you know?

Nowadays, "sententious" is usually uncomplimentary, implying banality, oversimplification, and excessive moralizing. But that hasn't always been the case, nor is it universally so even now. The original Middle English sense of "sententious" was "full of meaning," a meaning adopted from Latin sententiosus (from sententia, meaning "sentence" or "maxim"). In Modern English, too, "sententious" has sometimes referred to what is full of significance and expressed tersely. Or sometimes "sententious" simply suggests an affinity for aphorisms, as when it refers to the likes of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard (of almanac fame), the homespun philosopher given to such statements as "early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."

Examples of sententious in a Sentence

a smug and sententious writer a sententious crank who has written countless letters to the editor about the decline in family values

Recent Examples on the Web

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.

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 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