pontifical

Examples of pontifical in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The prose is confiding and, in places, pontifical. Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2020 That revelation, coupled with other recent pontifical critiques, have quickly dissolved the notion that the Dec. 31 death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a symbolic leader of the church’s conservative wing, might lessen the opposition to Francis. Stefano Pitrelli, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2023 Because of its original purpose, however, the building also has its peculiarities: the pontifical horses lived in grand style on two levels of soaring stalls, connected by a monumental, gently sloping ramp of travertine bricks. Ingrid D. Rowland, The New York Review of Books, 20 Aug. 2020 The prevailing view of Wordsworth—pontifical, orthodox, austere—was entrenched by the Victorians, who praised him for the very qualities the Younger Romantics had mocked. Matthew Bevis, Harper's Magazine, 23 June 2020 Lifting the rule of pontifical secrecy does not clarify church official’s obligations to comply with such requests. Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2020 The Vatican had previously argued that the imposition of pontifical secrecy was necessary to protect both victim and accused. BostonGlobe.com, 18 Dec. 2019 Critics said the pontifical secret was used to keep the scandal hidden, prevent police from acquiring internal documentation and silence victims. Nicole Winfield, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Dec. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pontifical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Pontifical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pontifical. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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