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.

I think the film is a patient, careful excavation of how we actually begin to change, how we cope, how we begin to heal, in the process, reaching out, retreating, trying to connect, self-protecting.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2022

“It’s exhausting, challenging something so powerful as a political establishment, that is self-protecting and self-preserving,” Ms. Merrick said.

From New York Times • Nov. 7, 2017

“I still make choices every day as a 41-year-old actress that I think of as self-protecting and wise,” she wrote.

From Washington Times • Oct. 16, 2017

“I still make choices every day as a 41-year-old actress that I think of as self-protecting and wise,” Bialik added in the op-ed.

From Time • Oct. 16, 2017

This had not hardened him, but, encountering a sturdy, valiant, self-protecting nature, had made him terribly tough and elastic; it was now his way never to go forward or backward a single step after sorrow.

From Hard Cash by Reade, Charles