(ˈ)sen|tenchəs adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin sententiosus, from sententia opinion, maxim + -osus -ous — more at sentence
1. obsolete : full of meaning or wisdom
your reasons at dinner have been sharp and sententious — Shakespeare
2.
a. : terse, aphoristic, or moralistic in expression : pithy , epigrammatic
“contentment breeds happiness” … is a proposition with which you can hardly quarrel; sententious , sedate, obviously true — A.T.Quiller-Couch
that sententious brevity which, using not a word to spare, leaves not a moment for inattention — Adrienne Koch
to push home her ideas on social injustice by sententious precept — Leslie Rees
b.
(1) : given to or abounding in aphoristic expression
“young people often feel they're caged,” I said … with a feeling that I was being sententious — Edmund Wilson
the sententious expression of the middle period of a life that came to late maturity — V.L.Parrington
there is the type magisterial or imperative; the type laconic or sententious — B.N.Cardozo
(2) : given to or abounding in excessive moralizing
they were verbose, sententious , circumlocutious, and grandiloquent — Harold Rosen & H.E.Kiene
too often the significant episode deteriorates into sententious conversation — Kathleen Barnes
Synonyms: see expressive