Make Your Point: PONTIFICATE

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pronounce PONTIFICATE:

pon TIFF uh kate

connect this word to others:

Let's say you're my friend, and you've had bad cold symptoms for a month, but you haven't gone to see a doctor. I'm about to tell you that you should. Yeah, I should mind my own business, but I love you too much.

When I annoy you like that, you might tell me to quit lecturing you, or quit sermonizing at you, or quit pontificating at you, or quit ha___guing you.

Can you recall that last synonym? It means "giving someone a long speech about what they ought to be doing."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

A pontiff is a high priest, and a pontificate is his office. And when he pontificates, he's performing his duties, which often include giving a long, serious church service.

More generally, when people pontificate, they talk for a long time in a lofty, preachy way that tells people what to do (and annoys them).

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, often the intransitive kind: "Polonius struts around, pontificating, enjoying the sound of his own voice."

Sometimes, it's the transitive kind of verb: you can say that someone pontificates something, like this: "'Neither a borrower nor a lender be,' Polonius pontificated."

Other forms:

Pontiff(s); pontificated, pontificating, pontification; pontificator(s).

how to use it:

"Pontificate" is a formal, academic, semi-common word with a sharply negative tone.

Pick it when you want to complain about some long-winded person acting like they're some high-and-mighty holier-than-thou moral authority. Say that they're pontificating.

Or say that they're pontificating about, on, or upon some subject.

Or say that they're pontificating to someone—or even worse, at someone.

examples:

"[In an interview, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke] pontificated about his personal use of an ad blocker, YouTube's profit margins, and the pressures being levied on artists today."
— Jamieson Cox, The Verge, 1 December 2015

"He pontificates his own peculiar brand of wisdom. 'Count your blessings,' the captain says. 'And if you count less than ten, cut off the remaining fingers.'"
— Neal Shusterman, Challenger Deep, 2015

has this page helped you understand "pontificate"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "pontificate" without saying "preach" or "moralize."

try it out:

When someone is pontificating, they're usually telling people what's bad, or telling people what not to do.

But people can also pontificate on good things: that is, they can go on and on about how good certain things are, as if singing their praises, and how everybody else should be enjoying those things, too.

Let's give that a try.

Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) pontificates on the (good parts of something)."

Example 1: "Dermatologists on YouTube pontificate on the benefits of sunscreen."

Example 2: "They tell of how they found the circus, how those first few steps were like magic. Like stepping into a fairy tale under a curtain of stars. They pontificate upon the fluffiness of the popcorn, the sweetness of the chocolate."
— Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus, 2011

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

This month, our game is "Sarah In Dip a Day!"

I'll give you some song lyrics that contain a sophisticated word or phrase—but I'll swap it out for what you might hear if you didn't know that word or phrase.

Your job is to find the spot where the lyrics quit making sense, then reinterpret those words as the artist actually wrote them.

Here's an example:

"I'm on a one-way street,
My fall from grace complete,
But I feel that there's a hazard hanging over me.
But I take away the feeling that I can't see,
And now you say to me
Sarah in dip a day."
—Amaranthe

Here, the meaning breaks down at "Sarah in dip a day," which should read "Serendipity."

Try this one today:

"Lemon null became my creed
On the floor inside your house on New Year's Eve.
The space between my head and heart,
The distance often seems just too far."
—Tow'rs

If you need some clues, highlight the hidden white text below.
1. The part that needs to be changed is..."Lemon null"
2. The term that's being sung means..."on the boundary between two other things"
To see the answer, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. The opposite of pontificating is

A. practicing what you preach.
B. keeping your opinions to yourself.
C. allowing someone else to have the last word.

2. A writer for the Washington Times noted that _____ is "normally a spot for pontificating," for "_____."

A. an opinion column .. [speaking] bluntly on the issues of the day
B. Florida .. [a] favorable tax structure, low crime rate and record economic growth
C. a slowing economy .. sticky inflation, labor shortages and a host of federal regulations

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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