pundit

American  

[puhn-dit] / ˈpʌn dɪt /

noun

• pundits
  plural

1. a learned person, expert, or authority.

   This pundit's formal instruction in history, philosophy, and political science prepared her for activism in many campaigns.

   Synonyms:

   savant, guru, sage

2. a person who makes comments or judgments, especially in an authoritative manner; critic or commentator.

   Opinions masquerade as news, while ill-informed pundits and vested interests cloud the issues and bend the truth into pretzels.

3. pandit.

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pundit British  

/ ˈpʌndɪt /

noun

1. an expert

2. (formerly) a learned person

3. Also called: pandit.  a Brahman learned in Sanskrit and, esp in Hindu religion, philosophy or law

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Pronunciation

See tenet ( def. ).

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• punditic
  adjective
• punditically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pundits
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pundit

First recorded in 1665–75; from Hindi paṇḍit, from Sanskrit paṇḍita “learned man” (noun), “learned” (adjective); of uncertain origin; perhaps akin to prajñā́ “knowledge” ( see also pro ¹ ( def. ), know ¹ ( def. ))

Explanation

A pundit is a well-known expert, someone whose opinions show up on television, online, or in the newspaper. Some TV news programs are nothing more than a bunch of pundits arguing about current events. Why not just call them experts? Because pundit is a lovely word that is very close to its Sanskrit root, payndita-s, "learned man or scholar." Originally, a pundit was a "learned Hindu" or Sanskrit expert. Today's classic examples of the pundit are guests on talk radio and professional sports commentators, all brilliant dispensers of insights, statistics, and occasional hot air.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pundit pundits

Predictably, the outspoken sports pundit, who also weighs in with sharp takes on politics and popular culture, is not pleased with the assessment and is planning a fiery response: “Now y’all started something.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

It also highlighted the work of intellectuals such as pundit Clay Shirky and marketing expert and author Seth Godin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Johnson has been a pundit and commentator for the BBC since 2001 but has not worked for the broadcaster since the Paris 2024 Olympics as he focused his attention on GST.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Recently a friend showed me a list of books recommended by a pundit and asked which one to read first.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

The Gillian addressing the crowd was styled and polished like a TV pundit.

From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely

It has simulated the outcome of all 380 Premier League games 10,000 times and came to the same conclusion as AI, and three of the pundits.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

For pundits and influencers, that could mean boosting their voices and incomes.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

So how is it, pundits wondered, that Spidey has vanquished the ultimate supervillain: superhero fatigue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Plenty of internet pundits, however, have kept their eye on this and continued to deliberately stoke the anger themselves.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

As lawyers and national pundits became more prominent than clients and citizens, we isolated ourselves from the people who were our anchor and on whose behalf we had labored.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• buff
• cognoscenti
• expert
• intellectual
• philosopher
• professor
• scholar
• thinker