| English Dictionary |
SENTENTIOUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Dictionary entry overview: What does sententious mean?
• SENTENTIOUS (adjective)
The adjective SENTENTIOUS has 2 senses:
1. abounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing
2. concise and full of meaning
Familiarity information: SENTENTIOUS used as an adjective is rare.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: sententiousest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Abounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing
Context example:
too often the significant episode deteriorates into sententious conversation
Similar:
pretentious (making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Concise and full of meaning
Synonyms:
pithy; sententious
Context example:
the peculiarly sardonic and sententious style in which Don Luis composed his epigrams
Similar:
concise (expressing much in few words)
Context examples
Sententious sage! so it is: but I swear by my household gods not to abuse it.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
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