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.

There, he earned a reputation as a piercingly thorough interviewer of victims and witnesses—but also an uncommonly gentle and sympathetic one.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

The one concern I had about a Yiddish “Fiddler” was the loss of Harnick’s piercingly simple lyrics.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2025

Her works achieve the difficult feat of synthesizing a coma-inducing dullness with piercingly shrill extended diatribes to create reverse masterpieces worthy of the most risible North Korean propaganda.

From Salon • Sep. 7, 2024

The film is “both sharply comical and piercingly sad,” A.O.

From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2023

“Stick it back in the trunk,” Harry advised as the Sneakoscope whistled piercingly, “or it’ll wake him up.”

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling