Words / C2

sen-TENSH-uh-s/senˈtenʃəs/

Sententious means trying to sound wise with moral remarks, in a pompous way: a sententious speech, sententious advice. Preachy is everyday; moralising is a close cousin; pompous is broader. Strongly unkind. In speech, pompously preachy is enough. A sententious person deals in maxims instead of argument. Do not confuse it with sentence (grammar) or with succinct (brief and good). The word sneers at fake wisdom.

Meaning

Trying to sound wise with moral remarks, in a pompous way.

Examples

• “A sententious speech bored the graduates.”
• “A sententious speech bored the graduates; they had wanted a method, not a proverb.”
• “Sententious footnotes (“as life teaches us”) are not a literature review.”

Good to know

Pompously moralising (disapproving). Everyday: preachy. Close: moralising. Contrast: succinct (praise); a genuine moral argument. Not “about sentences”.

Near in meaning

preachy

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