commentary

[ kom-uhn-ter-ee ]

noun

, plural com·men·tar·ies.

1. a series of comments, explanations, or annotations:

   a commentary on the Bible; news followed by a commentary.

2. an explanatory essay or treatise:

   a commentary on a play; Blackstone's commentaries on law.

3. anything serving to illustrate a point, prompt a realization, or exemplify, especially in the case of something unfortunate:

   The dropout rate is a sad commentary on our school system.

4. Usually commentaries. records of facts or events:

   Commentaries written by Roman lawyers give us information on how their courts functioned.

commentary

/ ˌkɒmənˈtɛərɪəl; ˈkɒməntərɪ; -trɪ /

noun

1. an explanatory series of notes or comments
2. a spoken accompaniment to a broadcast, film, etc, esp of a sporting event
3. an explanatory essay or treatise on a text
4. usually plural a personal record of events or facts

   the commentaries of Caesar

Derived Forms

• commentarial, adjective

Other Words From

• com·men·tar·i·al [kom-, uh, n-, tair, -ee-, uh, l], adjective
• super·commen·tary noun plural supercommentaries

Word History and Origins

Origin of commentary¹

1375–1425; late Middle English commentaries (plural) < Latin commentārium notebook, noun use of neuter of commentārius, equivalent to comment ( um ) comment + -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

After all, they’ve already been critiquing and reshaping Harry Potter into a better version of itself for decades, through fanfiction and other fan commentary.

From Vox

Though there was a small percentage of negative commentary, Da Brat says they both felt tremendous love, and “most of my close-knit family and friends knew already.”

From Essence.com

As people struggled to process the horror in the immediate aftermath, Michael Bang Petersen, a Danish political scientist at Aarhus University, weighed in on Twitter with some counter-intuitive commentary.

From Ars Technica

Throughout, she packs her commentary on feminism and race with ample references to pop culture.

From Time

While you might be tempted to tag the person, or screenshot the image and put some commentary on your Instagram to get that addictive stream of likes, don’t.

From MIT Technology Review

In the ten pages of commentary, if anyone felt differently they were in the clear minority.

From The Daily Beast

The CIA Publication Review Board has required that the following statement be included with this commentary.

From The Daily Beast

It is a joy to watch Shafer seamlessly work incisive commentary on contemporary life into a fast-paced spine-chiller.

From The Daily Beast

Its reporting and commentary on politics, society, and arts and letters have nurtured a broad liberal spirit in our national life.

From The Daily Beast

She says she uses rap as a way to start a conversations about art, identity, and social commentary.

From The Daily Beast

Considering the uncertainty in which we are left by both text and commentary, the best we can do is to adore without disputing.

From Project Gutenberg

He likens the walls to the page of a book, in which the glose, or commentary, was often written in the margin.

From Project Gutenberg

The commentary is not very helpful, and discusses collateral questions rather than the dream itself.

From Project Gutenberg

We should like to see a Biblical Commentary from his pen; it, would be immortal on account of its straightforwardnsss and oddity.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet he was a guide of no mean order, who made up for the poverty of what he had to show by a copious, imaginative commentary.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• comment
• criticism
• critique
• description
• explanation
• narration
• observation
• remark
• review
• treatise