sententious
adjective; usually disapproving

- trying to appear wise and important in an annoying way

- given to excessive moralising or aphoristic expression

- full of short, pointed sayings, particularly when they sound pompous or trite

Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Collins English Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

English borrowed sententious in the fifteenth century from Latin sententiōsus, meaning “full of meaning” or “pithy”. This came from sententia: a thought, opinion, judgement or maxim. The same Latin word eventually gave English sentence.

Originally, calling a speech sententious was complimentary. It meant that the speaker packed plenty of wisdom into relatively few words. Sir Thomas Elyot wrote in 1537 that authoritative speech should be “compendious, sententious, and delectable”.

The compliment gradually soured. By the late sixteenth century, the word could describe someone overly fond of maxims and moral instruction. What had once sounded concise and wise began to sound pompous and preachy.

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WHEN RHYME MASQUERADES AS REASON


Why does “A stitch in time saves nine” feel wiser than a plain instruction to repair things promptly?

Part of the answer may lie in its sound. In a study published in Psychological Science in 2000, Matthew McGlone and Jessica Tofighbakhsh presented people with unfamiliar aphorisms. Some rhymed; others conveyed essentially the same idea without rhyme.


Participants generally judged the rhyming versions more accurate. “What sobriety conceals, alcohol reveals”, for example, seemed truer than a version ending with “unmasks”, although the meaning had scarcely changed.

The researchers called this the “rhyme-as-reason” effect. Rhyme makes a statement easier and more pleasant to process. That mental smoothness can then be mistaken for evidence that the statement itself is sound.


This helps explain the endurance of proverbs, advertising slogans and political catchphrases. Their compact rhythm makes them easy to remember, repeat—and believe.


A sententious remark often sounds finished before anyone has checked whether the thinking is.


Helga & Paul Smith


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SYNONYMS

aphoristic, didactic, gnomic, moralising, preachy, SENTENTIOUS, sermonic

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