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 have thumbed up their noses at the pursuit of football success.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 28, 2023

For decades, environmentalists have decried ocean desalination as an ecological disaster, while cost-savvy water managers have thumbed their noses at desal’s lofty price tag.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2022

A medieval friar, drop-kicked in front of an iPhone, could have thumbed out a more lucid business plan.

From Slate • May 17, 2022

In recent years, the NBA’s most creative passers, from 20-year-old LaMelo Ball to 37-year-old LeBron James, have thumbed their noses at this piece of conventional hoops wisdom.

From Washington Post • Apr. 12, 2022

Old Stephen Penton may have had a rambling head; but unless I have thumbed the bloom off his narrative in my attempt to summarise it, the reader will allow that he knew how to write.

From From a Cornish Window A New Edition by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir