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pontiff

American  
[pon-tif] / ˈpɒn tɪf /

noun

  1. any pontifex.

  2. any high or chief priest.

  3. Ecclesiastical.

    1. a bishop.

    2. the Roman Catholic pope, the Bishop of Rome.

pontiff British  
/ ˈpɒntɪf /

noun

  1. a former title of the pagan high priest at Rome, later used of popes and occasionally of other bishops, and now confined exclusively to the pope

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
pontiff Cultural  

  1. Another name for the pope. Pontiff comes from a Latin word, meaning “bridge builder,” that was used as a title for some of the priests of ancient Rome.

Etymology

Origin of pontiff

1600–10; earlier pontife < French, short for Latin pontifex pontifex

Explanation

In Catholicism, the pontiff is the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic church. When the pontiff visits a city, thousands of people come out to watch his motorcade go by. In ancient Rome, a pontiff was one of many high-ranking religious authorities — in fact, there was a whole group of them, known collectively as the College of Pontiffs. Today, it's strictly accurate to call any Catholic bishop a pontiff, but the vast majority of Catholics reserve the word for the Bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the Pope. The word means "high priest," from a root meaning "bridge-maker."

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The pontiff responded by saying he had a "moral duty to speak out" against war -- and then sparked more headlines with a speech in Cameroon lambasting "tyrants" ransacking the world.

From Barron's • May 3, 2026

The pontiff said he would continue to "speak out loudly against war" and promote peace.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026

“If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth,” he admonished the pontiff.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026

"The administration of justice aims to protect society," the US-born pontiff, 70, told detainees.

From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026

People aren’t ordinarily carried in chairs in New Hampshire, and as they raised him up he looked very strange to me, like some tragic and exalted personage, a stricken pontiff.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.