sententious

WOTD – 2 December 2009    

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /sɛnˈtɛn.ʃəs/
• (UK) IPA: /sɛnˈtɛnt.ʃəs/

Adjective

sententious (comparative more sententious, superlative most sententious)

1. (obsolete) Full of meaning.
2. Using as few words as possible; pithy and concise.
3. Tending to use aphorisms or maxims, especially given to trite moralizing.

Synonyms

• (using as few words as possible): concise, pithy
• (tending to use aphorisms): aphoristic

Derived terms

• sententiously
• sententiousness

Related terms

• sentential

Translations

obsolete: full of meaning

• Swedish: konsis (sv)

using as few words as possible

• Dutch: kernachtig (nl)
• Finnish: ytimekäs (fi), niukkasanainen (fi), lyhytsanainen (fi), tiivis (fi)
• French: concis (fr), laconique (fr), succint (fr)
• Italian: conciso (it), succinto (it), laconico (it)

• Russian: афористичный (ru) (aforističnyj), краткий (ru) (kratkij), сжатый (ru) (sžatyj), лаконичный (ru) (lakoničnyj)
• Spanish: conciso (es), lacónico (es), sucinto (es)

tending to use aphorisms or maxims

• French: sentencieux (fr), pédant (fr), pontifiant (fr)
• Russian: нравоучительный (ru) (nravoučitelʹnyj); менторский (ru) (mentorskij), сентенциозный (ru) (sentencioznyj)

• Spanish: sentencioso (es)