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.

A decided positivism—the painstaking naturalism of the pre-Darwinian life sciences, with their attention to the taxonomy, function and illustration of biological forms—made itself felt in his work habits and in his meticulous drawings.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

Here the author sets his sights backward by 100 years to spoof the pre-Darwinian notion of nature as the beneficent servant of man.

From Time Magazine Archive

But although naturalists recognised this even in the pre-Darwinian days, they stoutly believed that a great exception was to be made in the case of species.

From Darwin, and After Darwin (Vol. 1 and 3, of 3) An Exposition of the Darwinian Theory and a Discussion of Post-Darwinian Questions by Romanes, George John

He has met inventors of sects, and has heard of pre-Darwinian "mathematicians" who doubt the fact that there were no men before Adam and are inclined to think there are no devils at all.

From The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare by Jusserand, J. J.

Leaving aside the pre-Darwinian writers, like Toussenel, Fee, and many others, several works containing many striking instances of mutual aid—chiefly, however, illustrating animal intelligence were issued previously to that date.

From Mutual Aid; a factor of evolution by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kniaz