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.

In “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” it’s deployed as a flat, mirthless inside joke — another pat reference, unfunny and predictable, charged with a yawning desperation to please.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2023

In a concert landscape marked by cash-grab reunions and mirthless anniversary celebrations, Rage — as it did during its heyday — stood above the rest and proved to be as ferocious and felicitous as ever.

From Washington Post • Aug. 3, 2022

The scene couldn’t have been any further from the mirthless, empty arena where the Lightning won the Cup last September in a quarantined bubble across the continent in Edmonton, Alberta.

From Washington Times • Jul. 7, 2021

It’s a scene that points to something else that unites Scott and Davidson: a gift for making their audience squirm, for letting their anguish seep out from behind a big, mirthless smile.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2020

But lately, the sister was not casting her mirthless smile in the direction of the probationers, nor speaking to them in the subdued voice that gave them such terrors.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan