modus operandi
Americannoun
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a mode of operating or working.
The aim of a scientist is to investigate the modus operandi of the natural world.
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one’s usual way of doing something: MO
A criminal’s modus operandi can give the police a lead.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of modus operandi
First recorded in 1645–55; New Latin: literally “mode of working”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They’re twin portraits of an artist delving into the origin of her modus operandi.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
“Given the modus operandi of this market is to shoot first and ask questions later, we believe this selloff represents an attractive buying opportunity,” Monness, Crespi, Hardt analyst Brian White wrote on Tuesday.
From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026
Other digital asset treasury companies that sought to ape Saylor’s modus operandi have suffered a similar fate.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026
His modus operandi generally is better understood when he is so considered.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
York could see that fashioning a modus operandi for the new lab that met both men’s specifications would be practically impossible, for “they were poles apart.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
