New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
Sententious — Sen*ten tious, a.[L. sentenciosus: cf. F. sentencieux.] 1. Abounding with sentences, axioms, and maxims; full of meaning; terse and energetic in expression; pithy; as, a sententious style or discourse; sententious truth. [1913 Webster] How he… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
sententious — I adjective abridged, aphoristic, apothegmatic, blunt, commatic, compact, compressed, concise, condensed, direct, economical of words, epigrammatic, epigrammatical, expressive, full of meaning, gnomic, laconic, meaningful, meaty, packed with… … Law dictionary
sententious — mid 15c., full of meaning, from M.Fr. sententieux, from L. sententiosus full of meaning, pithy, from sententia opinion, maxim (see SENTENCE (Cf. sentence)). Meaning addicted to pompous moralizing first recorded 1590s … Etymology dictionary
sententious — pregnant, meaningful, significant, *expressive, eloquent Analogous words: formal, conventional, ceremonious (see CEREMONIAL): *showy, ostentatious: terse, pithy, compendious (see CONCISE) … New Dictionary of Synonyms
sententious — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner. DERIVATIVES sententiously adverb sententiousness noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «full of meaning or wisdom»: from Latin sententia opinion … English terms dictionary
sententious — [sen ten′shəs] adj. [L sententiosus < sententia: see SENTENCE] 1. expressing much in few words; short and pithy; pointed 2. full of, or fond of using, maxims, proverbs, etc., esp. in a way that is ponderously trite and moralizing sententiously … English World dictionary
sententious — sententiously, adv. sententiousness, sententiosity /sen ten shee os i tee/, n. /sen ten sheuhs/, adj. 1. abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims: a sententious book. 2. given to excessive moralizing; self righteous. 3. given to or using pithy… … Universalium
sententious — /sɛnˈtɛnʃəs / (say sen tenshuhs) adjective 1. characterised by many pithy sayings or maxims: sententious style. 2. affectedly judicial in utterance; moralising; self righteous: *Ted thought, It is grim and marvellous by turns, and I may never… …
sententious — sen|ten|tious [senˈtenʃəs] adj formal [Date: 1400 1500; : Latin; Origin: sententiosus full of meaning , from sententia; SENTENCE1] telling people how they should behave used in order to show disapproval ▪ sententious remarks >sententiously adv … Dictionary of contemporary English
sententious — adjective formal saying clever things about morality or the way people should behave: sententious remarks sententiously adverb … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
sententious — adjective your new churchy friends have certainly made you sententious Syn: moralistic, moralizing, sanctimonious, self righteous, pietistic, pious, priggish, judgmental; pompous, pontifical, self important; informal preachy … Thesaurus of popular words
