pontificate
noun
the office or term of office of a pontiff.
pontificating
-
present participleof pontificate.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
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.
Rebecca Nagle: The part we all know is the part where Thomas Jefferson is pontificating about these enlightenment ideals.
From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2026
Carpenter plucks Cricket from arts college and its meaningless pontificating to his “atelier in the corn,” a ramshackle Victorian where Cricket learns how to transmute what he sees with color and light.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
The White House, in response to those remarks, said Madden should “stick to pontificating about pump-and-dump fraud schemes instead of international trade,” as MarketWatch reported last year.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026
Three generations of Mackeys didn’t sit around pontificating about structures of power and revolution.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2023
“After all of your pontificating about the contortionist?”
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
