sententious

adjective

sen-ˈten(t)-shəs How to pronounce sententious (audio)
Definition of sententiousnext
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

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

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.
Recent Examples of sententious 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sententious
  1. concise
  2. brief
  3. summary
  4. didactic
  5. instructive
  6. moralistic
Adjective
  • This Side of the Island is a more concise and conceptual effort, compared to his last full-length, 2020’s The Loves of Your Life, which is a masterpiece of musical storytelling.
    — Frank DiGiacomo, Billboard, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Keeping prices down Bartell, who is the president of Bartell Hotels and the chairman of the San Diego Tourism Marketing District, attributes the extended success of Humphreys to a concise plan.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2025
Definition of concise
Adjective
  • The tour through Rome’s historic center came after Francis made his first appearance in five weeks to give a thumbs-up and brief blessing from a hospital balcony.
    — Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2025
  • In addition to her recurring role on Melrose Place as antagonistic neurosurgeon Dr. Irene Shulman, Young has guest starred on Bones, This Is Us, and made a brief appearance in the Marvel superhero threequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
    — Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 23 Mar. 2025
Definition of brief
Adjective
  • Ukraine is investigating more than 150,000 possible war crimes committed by Russia, including the summary execution of prisoners and targeted aerial strikes against civilians.
    — David Faris, Newsweek, 17 Mar. 2025
  • He is accused of acting as the de facto leader of the Davao Death Squad, a group that was responsible for summary executions and the murder or disappearance of more than 1,000 people in and around the city.
    — Lisandro Claudio, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2025
Definition of summary
Adjective
  • These speeches then feel didactic in a way Shepard’s script never does, their fourth-wall-breaking execution making the play feel disjointed and self-consciously stagy — which is also a problem with the performances.
    — Maya Phillips, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025
  • The original series found a way to achieve that: Slick, attractive characters delivered crisp legal jargon without coming off overly didactic.
    — Emily Longeretta, Variety, 13 Feb. 2025
Definition of didactic
Adjective
  • Perhaps the Broncos would have pursued those two moves regardless, but head coach Sean Payton made an interesting point during the draft that is instructive as Denver sets out into free agency next week.
    — Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 7 Mar. 2025
  • The threat of custom chips is not new, but Huang’s comments on the topic Wednesday night were instructive in understanding why Nvidia’s chips are still so coveted by customers who are also pursuing their own chips.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 27 Feb. 2025
Definition of instructive
Adjective
  • The story is predictably moralistic and, frankly, more worried about conforming to contemporary mores than accurately representing what was going on in Cuba in the 1950s, dramatically speaking anyway.
    — Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 20 Mar. 2025
  • The United States has flipped from a moralistic benefactor to a transactional predator of Kyiv’s resources.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 24 Feb. 2025
Definition of moralistic

Browse Nearby Words

sententiae
sententious
sententiously
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“Sententious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sententious. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.

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