Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Keep "pontifical" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "pontifical" intact in the sentence you are editing.
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
After choosing a replacement for "pontifical", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "pontifical" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
7 translations across 7 languages.
5 total sentences available.
The two-month course began at the "Regina Apostolorum," one of Rome's prestigious pontifical universities. The course has been described as both "theoretical and practical" and is open to priests and theology students only. Teachers include exorcists and psychiatrists. One of the issues that will be addressed is how to tell the difference between someone who is possessed and someone who simply has psychological problems.
Source: tatoeba (12148668)
Now had they brought the work by wondrous art / Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock / Over the vexed abyss.
Source: wiktionary
Both ordines are related to an ordo in a pontifical in Reims, the Ordo of 1200 (Ordo XIX). The latter was to be consulted again and again, and its formulas were to have a marked effect upon the French ceremony; […]
Source: wiktionary
William Durandus, bishop of Mende in the south of France, compiled a pontifical in three books. William never intended his work to be a universal pontifical, but its clarity of arrangement and quality of substance, along with […]
Source: wiktionary
Showing 4 of 5 available sentences.
Closest matches include apostolic, apostolic, apostolical, arrogant, bigoted.
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.