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.

“Queen Elizabeth II had not been born to succeed,” Mr. Cannadine writes, “but by her example, her self-discipline, her public-spiritedness, and her longevity, she did so in more ways than one.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

Perhaps such public-spiritedness is harder to harness, or simply less effective, with today’s relentless assault on investigators and opponents.

From Washington Post • Mar. 22, 2019

Kelly was struck by Mallory’s public-spiritedness, and by his modesty.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 4, 2019

If we were a prescientific society, we would assume that polio is a disease caused by human disagreements and cured by public-spiritedness.

From Slate • Mar. 10, 2015

Nowhere else have I been sensible of such a feeling of united public-spiritedness as obtains here.

From The New North by Cameron, Agnes Deans