PONTIFICAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does pontifical mean? 

• PONTIFICAL (noun)
  The noun PONTIFICAL has 1 sense:

1. the vestments and other insignia of a pontiff (especially a bishop)

  Familiarity information: PONTIFICAL used as a noun is very rare.

• PONTIFICAL (adjective)
  The adjective PONTIFICAL has 3 senses:

1. proceeding from or ordered by or subject to a pope or the papacy regarded as the successor of the Apostles

2. denoting or governed by or relating to a bishop or bishops

3. puffed up with vanity

  Familiarity information: PONTIFICAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PONTIFICAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The vestments and other insignia of a pontiff (especially a bishop)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("pontifical" is a kind of...):

vestment (gown (especially ceremonial garments) worn by the clergy)

• PONTIFICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Proceeding from or ordered by or subject to a pope or the papacy regarded as the successor of the Apostles

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

apostolic; apostolical; papal; pontifical

Context example:

papal dispensation

Pertainym:

pope (the head of the Roman Catholic Church)

Derivation:

pontiff (the head of the Roman Catholic Church)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Denoting or governed by or relating to a bishop or bishops

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

episcopal; pontifical

Pertainym:

bishop (a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Puffed up with vanity

Synonyms:

grandiloquent; overblown; pompous; pontifical; portentous

Context example:

pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and pontifical hooey

Similar:

pretentious (making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction)

 Context examples 

The three-day event, jointly sponsored by the pontifical academy of science and pontifical academy of social sciences, aims to find a solution to save the planet’s diversity.

(Nearly Half the Planet's Species Could Be Wiped Out by the End of This Century, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

I beg pardon—Ladies, Gentlemen, and Children—I must apologize, I had inadvertently omitted a considerable section of this audience (tumult, during which the Professor stood with one hand raised and his enormous head nodding sympathetically, as if he were bestowing a pontifical blessing upon the crowd), I have been selected to move a vote of thanks to Mr. Waldron for the very picturesque and imaginative address to which we have just listened.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)