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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
Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025
On the second point, most politicians and pundits failed to understand how voters viewed the state of the economy, short-term.
—Hersh Shefrin, Forbes, 19 Jan. 2025
The media and pundits have already started to pick apart Biden's speech, which included several bold statements about the country and has ruffled some feathers.
—Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025
Davis also challenged pundits and fans’ belief that Crawford is attempting to make history by challenging multi-division champ Canelo Alvarez to a bout, a fight expected to yield Bud the biggest payday of his career.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 15 Jan. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near pundit
Cite this Entry
“Pundit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pundit. Accessed 26 Jan. 2025.
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