Meanings
plural commentariats
- informalAll the pundits and commentators of the news media collectively.
From Boston, a man who finally joined the commentariat by making his debut on CNBC’s Hardball, Esquire Magazine writer-at-large, Charlie Pierce!
2000 January 22, Peter Sagal, “Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!”, in National Public Radio2 more examples
The world, of course, is seen by the commentariat as a side issue, yet another diversion from his real work, which is to answer whatever questions they see fit to pose.
2010, Mungo MacCallum, The Monthly, April 2010, Issue 55, The Monthly Ptd Ltd, page 32As the dust settles on the Supreme Court’s cataclysmically destabilizing term, a very persistent question has bubbled up among the law professor commentariat: How the hell are we going to teach all this?
2024, G. S. Hans, Law Professors Can’t Keep Carrying Water For the Supreme Court, in: Balls and Strikes, August 5 2024Synonyms: punditariat
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAll the pundits and commentators of the news media collectively.
Origin
Probably a blend of commentary + proletariat, perhaps after proprietariat and salariat. Perhaps compare also secretariat.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
commentariat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commentariat
“commentariat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commentariat. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “commentariat,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commentariat.
Source: commentariat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.