invent
verb (used with object)
to originate or create as a product of one's own ingenuity, experimentation, or contrivance.
was inventing
-
past progressiveof invent.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
While Europe was inventing newspapers, Mughal India had its own news network.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
He claimed that no true “moment of threat” doctrine existed and that the petitioner was inventing a label to distort the 5th Circuit’s reasoning.
From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2025
I dismissed this idiotic notion as soon as he voiced it; we were obviously fine the night before, so Michael was inventing problems.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
And I didn’t really get at the time, but now, in retrospect, I understand that the guy was inventing modern American satire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2021
He paced, paused, spoke, and paced behind his palm-leaf altar, giving every impression he was inventing his Biblical parables on the spot.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
