Dictionary

sententious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /sɛnˈtɛn.ʃəs/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Latin sententiōsus, from sententia (“opinion, purpose”).

Meanings

1. Using as few words as possible; pithy and concise.
2. Tending to the frequent use aphorisms or maxims; especially, in a manner that is affected, trite or self-righteous.
   • His sententious remarks quickly bored the audience.
3. (obsolete) Full of meaning.
   • More ouer, towarde the acquiringe of maiestie, thre thinges be required in the o∣ration of a man hauyng autoritie, that it be compendious, sententious, and delectable 1537, Sir Thomas Elyot, “Cap 2: The exposition of maiestie”, in The Governour, volume Book 2, London: Thomas Berthelet, page 101f:
4. (obsolete) Relating to a sentence; sentential.

Forms

Deriveds

sententiousness · sententiosity · unsententious · sententiously · oversententious

Relateds

sentential

Synonyms

concise (using as few words as possible) · aphoristic (tending to use aphorisms) · pithy (using as few words as possible)

Translations (37)

bo ཚིག་ཉུང་དོན་བསྡུས་པ (using as few words as possible) · es sentencioso (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · fi niukkasanainen (using as few words as possible) · ru сентенциозный (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · es conciso (using as few words as possible) · fi lyhytsanainen (using as few words as possible) · ru сжатый (using as few words as possible) · fr concis (using as few words as possible) · sv kärnfull (using as few words as possible) · bg афористичен (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · fr pontifiant (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · fi ytimekäs (using as few words as possible) · sv koncis (using as few words as possible) · de geschwollen (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · it succinto (using as few words as possible) · fr sentencieux (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · el αποφθεγματικός (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · nl kernachtig (using as few words as possible) · ru менторский (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · it conciso (using as few words as possible) · es sucinto (using as few words as possible) · es lacónico (using as few words as possible) · ru лаконичный (using as few words as possible) · fr laconique (using as few words as possible) · grc ἀποφθεγματικός (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · fi tiivis (using as few words as possible) · it laconico (using as few words as possible) · fr succint (using as few words as possible) · ru нравоучительный (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · bo ཚིག་ཉུང་དོན་ཚང (using as few words as possible) · nl moraliserend (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · ru афористи́чный (using as few words as possible) · ru кра́ткий (using as few words as possible) · sv aforistisk (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · sv förnumstig (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · sv moraliserande (tending to use aphorisms or maxims) · fr pédant (tending to use aphorisms or maxims)