WOTD: Sententious
Phonetic Spelling: sen-TEN-shuhs
Part(s) of Speech: adjective
Meaning(s):
- Abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims: a sententious book.
- Given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous.
- Given to or using pithy sayings or maxims: a sententious poet.
- Of the nature of a maxim; pithy.
Example:
It was inconceivable that she was using the boring, sententious, contentious Shepherd for anything but a hollow threat to him, but this semblance of wrongdoing could now be turned to
advantage. — Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano
Origin: Sententious is related to sententia, the Latin root for the word sentence. The Latin word sententiosus meant “full of meaning, pithy.”