selectively
Americanadverb
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.
Lower-income households, meanwhile, are trading down and spending more selectively.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
Consumption subsidies are set to decline slightly, Yue Su of the Economist Intelligence Unit noted, "reflecting the government's desire to use such tools more selectively... to curb destructive price competition".
From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026
Mahmoud omitted the same key due process precedents or selectively cited them as if they applied only to religious parents.
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
McDonald’s on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street’s expectations, but the burger chain said it expects the year ahead to remain difficult, as consumers battling years of price increases continue to spend selectively.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 11, 2026
Just like industrialized Europe and America, traditional New Guinea has conservative societies that resist new ways, living side by side with innovative societies that selectively adopt new ways.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
