Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Terse and energetic in expression; pithy.
- adjective Full of or given to using aphorisms, especially in a pompously moralizing manner.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Full of pithy sentences or sayings; pithy; terse: as, a sententious style or discourse; sententious truth.
- Given to the use of pithy or axiomatic sayings or sentences.
- Same as
sentential , 2. - Synonyms Laconic, pointed, compact.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Abounding with sentences, axioms, and maxims; full of meaning; terse and energetic in expression; pithy.
- adjective obsolete Comprising or representing sentences; sentential.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective obsolete Full of
meaning . - adjective Using as few words as possible;
pithy andconcise . - adjective Tending to use
aphorisms ormaxims , especially given totrite moralizing .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective abounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing
- adjective concise and full of meaning
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Although Buddy did not know the word "sententious," the people he described were the embodiment of it -- licensed bores, as all aborigines seemed to be (so he implied), who had a proverb or a biblical passage for every reversal in life.
Beard 2010
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But wherever in his Gospel S. Mark is doing the same thing, he is observed to adopt the style and manner which Dr. Davidson is pleased to call "sententious" and "abrupt."
The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark Vindicated Against Recent Critical Objectors and Established 1813-1888 1871
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[253] And yet, if it were ever so "sententious," ever so "abrupt;" and if his "brief notices" were ever so "loosely linked together;" -- these, according to Dr. Davidson, would only be indications that S. Mark actually was their Author.
The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark Vindicated Against Recent Critical Objectors and Established 1813-1888 1871
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Chandak, a 13-year-old seventh grader at Seneca Falls Middle School, spelled "sententious",
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As i n a 2005 London production, he plays Robert, a sententious veteran trouper doing a season of rep with John (T.R. Knight), a promising young colleague.
Spacecraft to Stage Craft Joanne Kaufman 2010
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Especially with Thoreau, snippets can feel sententious or bossy or crabby, and the Journal isn't.
A Different Stripe: 2009
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I hate it when Tom Colicchio gets sententious, as he did facing the losing four contestants on last night's third episode of Top Chef D.C..
Top Chef D.C., round three: No picnic Westword 2010
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Especially with Thoreau, snippets can feel sententious or bossy or crabby, and the Journal isn't.
Navelgazing 2009
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Especially with Thoreau, snippets can feel sententious or bossy or crabby, and the Journal isn't.
Guest posts 2010
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Especially with Thoreau, snippets can feel sententious or bossy or crabby, and the Journal isn't.
A Conversation with Damion Searls about Thoreau's Journal 2009
brtom commented on the word sententious
But why can’t I be moral?—Let me try—
My heart thus pressing—fixed my face and eye—
With a sententious look, that nothing means,
(Faces are blocks in sentimental scenes)
Goldsmith, She Stoops, Prologue
January 8, 2007
milosrdenstvi commented on the word sententious
Not to be confused with tendentious.
March 21, 2009
ThatsBaloneyMan commented on the word sententious
"Is not this ten times better than to set out dogmatically with a sententious parade of wisdom, and telling the world a story of a roasted horse..." ---Tristram Shandy
March 16, 2013