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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
Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 1 July 2024
Some pundits looks pretty tame next to these two guys, one of whom threatens physical violence on the other.
—Paul Keane, Hartford Courant, 30 June 2024
Last night, Stewart went live immediately following the first (2024) presidential debate, which ran from 9 p.m. ET until 10:39 p.m. ET — and then the pundits had their turn.
—Tony Maglio, IndieWire, 28 June 2024
Democratic pundits and strategists have raised the prospect of holding an open contest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August in an attempt to replace Biden with another nominee on the November ticket.
—Ken Tran, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for pundit 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pundit.' 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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“Pundit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pundit. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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