professorial

adjective

Synonyms of professorialnext
: 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.
Navarro, long rejected and unelected, made no attempt to set professorial boundaries in his new advisory role. Ian Parker, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025 In academia, Soyinka has held professorial and visiting positions at universities around the world. Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2025 George’s only hope of hanging onto the ridiculously extravagant life he’s pitched to Hedda is securing a professorial position at the local university. Abby Monteil, Them., 28 Oct. 2025 Advertisement To be clear, academic freedom is too often seen as a narrow prerogative of the professorial class. Nicholas Dirks, Time, 16 Oct. 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 31 Dec. 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!