topic sentence

Or topical sentence

noun

1. a sentence that expresses the essential idea of a paragraph or larger section, usually appearing at the beginning.

topic sentence

noun

1. a sentence in a paragraph that expresses the main idea or point of the whole paragraph

topic sentence

1. The main sentence in a paragraph, often the first sentence. It briefly conveys the essential idea of the paragraph.

Word History and Origins

Origin of topic sentence¹

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Then Katie emailed me an update of her project outline, with the topic sentences from every paragraph.

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But crafting a note like “A topic sentence should signal what the paragraph is about. Can you try reworking this sentence to reflect the paragraph?” is far more empowering.

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As the kids worked on learning fractions, European colonization of Native lands and topic sentences, Tamas worked in the mental breaks.

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But he figured out how to absorb reading material by scanning the conclusion first and focusing on topic sentences.

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Maybe those people don’t want to use topic sentences.

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