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.

He was exacting, charming and merciless in equal measure.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

Most ominously, the “airborne garbage” we were breathing was exacting a price on everyone’s health.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Smith was exacting when it came to managing freelancers and cranky with any who failed to come back from an assignment with what he believed would have been the key shot.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 13, 2023

But in his art, Giacometti was exacting and fastidious, bowing before a classical impulse that ran from ancient Egypt and archaic Greece through the classical French tradition, from Poussin to Cézanne and Matisse.

From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2022

It was as if some angry god was exacting payment for their easy voyage north, when they had ridden a steady southerly from Drag- onstone to the Wall.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin