by turns

1. Alternately, one after another, as in She is by turns cheerful, serious, and sad. [First half of 1500s]

Example Sentences

The actors in “Rashomon” were all at the peak of their powers—Machiko Kyo as the noblewoman, by turns pleading and vicious; Takashi Shimura, whose woodcutter comes to accept his own cowardice; Masayuki Mori as the noble samurai, so fearful of losing face in the eyes of his wife; and most charismatic of all, Mifune, scratching himself and slapping away mosquitoes as his bandit insolently declares his desire for the lady on the pale horse.

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By turns a wry comic, matinee idol, bankable box-office draw, indie titan and devoted preservationist, Redford carefully cultivated the superstardom based on his boyish charms and capitalized on the post-studio-boss system as he became the de facto godfather of the independent film movement.

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Carpenter’s singing plays like an actor’s sizzle reel, by turns winsome, sneering, bubbly and resigned; in the twangy “Go Go Juice” alone — it’s about a woman who’s woken up at 10 a.m. and opted to spend the day drunk-dialing exes — she runs through every emotional gradient separating determination from shame.

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Songs are by turns epic, edgy, spacey and insistent.

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When my family moved to a new city during that time, I tracked the experience, by turns alienating and thrilling, in relation to my lack of a smartphone.

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