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.

Anyone who has had to hide something as self-defining as their sexual orientation will tell you the pressure is suffocating and their performance has suffered as a result.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2024

It was not simply a “promise of liberty” to be free from particular kinds of government interference, but to be free to make one’s own self-defining choices about matters intrinsic to personal identity.

From Slate • Jun. 24, 2022

And so, this is not an argument highlighting the importance of rock-and-roll legend Richard Wayne Penniman’s flamboyant, gender-blurring, self-defining public style.

From Washington Post • May 10, 2020

If you’re familiar with the crude comedy of misadventure and sentimental education — every generation has its self-defining favorite — you have pretty much seen this movie.

From New York Times • Aug. 14, 2019

Most of the time, the work requires minimal human interaction, of either the collegial or the supervisory sort, largely because it’s so self-defining.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich