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.

“You don’t want to live through this, per se,” she suggests about Fiona Apple’s anxieties, which the singer bares in “The Idler Wheel . . . ,” her self-lacerating 2012 album.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

The same is true of the cartoon “Harmonquest,” based on the “Dungeons & Dragons” segment of his self-lacerating podcast “Harmontown,” a group improvisation toward a shared goal.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2023

The B.A.M. members, who were overwhelmingly male, were known for making confrontational work; they and their acolytes viewed hers — insistently introspective, often self-lacerating — with suspicion.

From New York Times • Dec. 2, 2022

Get sucked into its simple, hummable melody and risk missing the song’s deft twisting of its chorus from empowerment anthem into self-lacerating critique.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 14, 2021

Of great interest are Fletcher's statements to the effect that the most youthful Englishmen were repeatedly selected as recipients of personal sacrifice and adoration which took the form of lamenting, moaning, weeping, wailing, and self-lacerating.

From Francis Drake and the California Indians, 1579 by Heizer, Robert F.