Meaning & use

pontificate

verb·Advanced

Last updated

To express one's opinions in a pompous, self-important, or dogmatic way.

See it in a sentence

He loves to pontificate about politics at every family dinner.

Rather than listening, she pontificated for twenty minutes about how the project should be run.

A note on using this word

Pontificate carries a negative connotation, suggesting the speaker is acting with unwarranted authority or self-importance, as if delivering a papal decree.

Words with a similar meaning

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