selectively
Americanadverb
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.
Scientists have now uncovered how graphene can selectively eliminate bacteria while leaving human cells unharmed.
From Science Daily • Apr. 26, 2026
Although Weyerhaeuser’s hardwood forests in New England and West Virginia are logged selectively and naturally regenerate, its coniferous timberlands in the South and Pacific Northwest are clear-cut and replanted.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
Beijing is trying to turn a struggling shopping paradise into proof that China can still open selectively, attract foreign business and build new growth engines even as domestic consumption remains fragile.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026
Restrictions are slowly and selectively easing – although the message from security officials is they will stay in force as long as "enemy threats" remain.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
I read aimlessly, until I learned to read selectively, with a purpose.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
