commentary

American  

[kom-uhn-ter-ee] / ˈkɒm ənˌtɛr i /

noun

commentaries plural

1. a series of comments, explanations, or annotations.

   a commentary on the Bible; news followed by a commentary.

2. an explanatory essay or treatise.

   a commentary on a play; Blackstone's commentaries on law.

3. anything serving to illustrate a point, prompt a realization, or exemplify, especially in the case of something unfortunate.

   The dropout rate is a sad commentary on our school system.

4. Usually commentaries. records of facts or events.

   Commentaries written by Roman lawyers give us information on how their courts functioned.

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commentary British  

/ ˌkɒmənˈtɛərɪəl, -trɪ, ˈkɒməntərɪ /

noun

1. an explanatory series of notes or comments

2. a spoken accompaniment to a broadcast, film, etc, esp of a sporting event

3. an explanatory essay or treatise on a text

4. (usually plural) a personal record of events or facts

   the commentaries of Caesar

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercommentary
  noun
• commentarial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• commentaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of commentary

1375–1425; late Middle English commentaries (plural) < Latin commentārium notebook, noun use of neuter of commentārius, equivalent to comment ( um ) comment + -ārius -ary

Explanation

When the language in a work of literature such as "Beowulf" is difficult to understand, it is helpful to read from an edition that includes a commentary — an explanation or expansion or criticism added to the original material. Editorials go hand-in-hand with commentaries, since both express a writer's opinions. Commentary can be oral as well as written. Each year, following the President's State of the Union address, you can tune into the networks for commentary from respected news anchors. In fact, political commentary has become so pervasive in our media that some feel it has replaced reporting.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

commentary commentaries

Owens’ arguments are often nonsensical, but because she commands an audience of more than 6 million YouTube subscribers, they have enough power to force the rest of the commentary class to rebut them.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026

"It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings."

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Netflix has been in Wall Street’s doghouse lately, and its earnings commentary Thursday afternoon sparked even more investor concern.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026

When discussing the possibility of another album following “Hackney Diamonds,” Mr. Jagger told Rolling Stone that some of the unused material featured social commentary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

In the commentary, I won’t employ anything that even smacks of theme or moral.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Such activities include praying to gods and deities, fortunetelling and physiognomy, and consulting spiritual gurus or mystics, according to party commentaries and state media.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

On the BBC website, all 104 games will have live text commentaries - even those at 03:00 BST for all the night owls.

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026

From reading the most recent market commentaries, one might conclude that investors are unnerved by the potential of AI to upend industries across the spectrum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026

And some advisers produce their own data-driven market commentaries that look ahead at trends, which can affect client portfolios.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 26, 2026

First in the traditional way, by memorizing the text and the commentaries, and then inventing all sorts of questions that Rav Gershenson might ask me.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

Related Words

• comment
• criticism
• critique
• description
• explanation
• narration
• observation
• remark
• review
• treatise