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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
Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Oct. 2025
Other pundits disagree, arguing that companies are turning profits and the market is fundamentally sound.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 27 Oct. 2025
Jorge Valdano, a former Real Madrid player and manager who is now one of Spain’s most distinguished football pundits.
—Guillermo Rai, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
The optics weren’t any better on ESPN, a key rightsholder, where pundits discussed the scandal while an advertisement for ESPN Bet, the company’s gambling service, ran on the ticker below.
—Evan Webeck, Mercury News, 24 Oct. 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 30 Oct. 2025.
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