THE WORDCRAFT DEFINITION DICTIONARY
sententious
adjective
Expressing compact statements of supposed wisdom, often with excessive moralizing.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
A USEFUL DISTINCTION
Usage note
Often disapproving in modern usage: moralizing or pompously wise. It is not a general substitute for concise.
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Examples in context
The sententious speech offered lofty maxims instead of practical help.
Tessa added irreverence when a character used the committee's ceremonial stamp as a paperweight, treating a solemn symbol casually. Another character adopted a moralistic tone, judging every misplaced comma as evidence of a defective character. His sententious refrain, 'Order in ink is order in the soul,' compressed that moralizing into a polished little maxim.
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This entry is part of the vocabulary collection supplied by GlobalRPh. Definitions are concise study meanings. Examples combine original teaching sentences with selected passages adapted from the supplied study notes; their source is labeled beside each example. A word may have additional specialized or historical senses.
Adapted from supplied vocabulary notes. Example written for WordCraft.
Source study sections: 10.
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