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.
The man was alone and smartly dressed in a button-down shirt, khaki pants and professorial eyeglasses. John Blake, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2025 The picturesque front porches that define the town are abuzz with energetic cottagers who punctuate their days with cooking lessons, nature walks, yoga, professorial lectures, music and plays. Dave Smith, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2025 Moreover, the professorial subjectivity problem of assessing student competence is historically an ongoing challenge. Nick Ladany, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025 An eight-time Grammy winner, Palmieri took both an iconoclastic and professorial approach to his music, striving for perfection through various means and genres. Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Professorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professorial. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on professorial

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!