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It’s no hot take to say that the original pundits were highly learned scholars and teachers in India; it’s just a statement of fact. Our English word pundit comes from the Hindi word paṇḍit, a term of respect (and sometimes an honorary title) for a wise person, especially one with knowledge of philosophy, religion, and law; its ultimate source is the Sanskrit word paṇḍita, meaning “learned.” English speakers have used pundit to refer to sages of India since the 1600s, but as is typically done with English, they eventually pushed the word into new semantic territory. By the late 1800s, pundit could also refer to a member of what is sometimes called the commentariat or punditocracy—that is, the collective group of political commentators, financial analysts, and newspaper columnists often paid to share their views on a variety of subjects.
Examples of pundit in a Sentence
Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
Dan Bongino, a former U.S. Secret Service agent who has penned best-selling books, ran unsuccessfully for office and gained fame as a conservative pundit with TV shows and a popular podcast, has been chosen to serve as FBI deputy director.
—CBS News, 23 Feb. 2025
Just a few months ago, many New York political pundits declared Mayor Adams the favorite.
—Michael Bocian, New York Daily News, 21 Feb. 2025
Entangled in the ensuing chaos is Mullen’s longtime aide/fixer/something Roger (Jesse Plemons), his former chief-of-staff Valerie (Connie Britton), the head of the CIA (Bill Camp), a Tucker Carlson-esque pundit (Dan Stevens), a Jeffrey Epstein-esque sketchy billionaire (Clark Gregg) and more.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pundit
Cite this Entry
“Pundit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pundit. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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