professorial

adjective

: of, relating to, characteristic of, or resembling a professor
professorial duties
professorial authority
a calm, professorial manner
Johnson was professorial in his approach to the game. He could talk for hours on the nuances of the Czechoslovak national team's power play.E. M. Swift
professorially adverb
… a tall man with professorially thick glasses and graying, tangled hair … John Seabrook

Examples of professorial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Advertisement To be clear, academic freedom is too often seen as a narrow prerogative of the professorial class. Nicholas Dirks, Time, 16 Oct. 2025 The voice turned more professorial, clinical. Jon Michael Varese, The Atlantic, 28 Sep. 2025 Restrepo, who was wearing professorial glasses and a dark suit, went first. Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025 The man was alone and smartly dressed in a button-down shirt, khaki pants and professorial eyeglasses. John Blake, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for professorial

Word History

First Known Use

1713, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of professorial was in 1713

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Cite this Entry

“Professorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professorial. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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