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.

Unlike the widely read Sophoclean trio, lesser-known works can generate suspense.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

Oedipus calls himself Laius’ “successor, the inheritor of his legacy,” and in true Sophoclean fashion he speaks more than he knows.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2025

However, after the game’s Sophoclean twist near the end, the hardships visited upon the player take on a different light.

From Washington Post • Aug. 27, 2021

Some of these plays – Antigone and the Sophoclean Electra in particular – could be moulded to fit repressive contemporary ideals of womanhood, since their heroines demonstrate selfless devotion to dead male family members.

From The Guardian • Jul. 7, 2017

There is timber enough and life enough in one of his dramas to make four or five Sophoclean tragedies; and one of these might almost be cut out of Hamlet without being missed.

From Shakespeare: His Life, Art, And Characters, Volume I. With An Historical Sketch Of The Origin And Growth Of The Drama In England by Hudson, Henry Norman