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.

They were exacting editors, and the parallels to relationships I’d had with fiction editors led to a lightbulb moment: I was still a creative person, but I was using my creative energy in different ways.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 29, 2022

Kris Bowers says his parents were exacting, and expected intense discipline in music studies and a high bar at school.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 8, 2022

But African-Americans in the state capital, Montgomery, were exacting a heavy economic toll on the city by boycotting buses.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2018

A few times, he felt as if math problems were exacting too much from his brain, and he excused himself from class.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 27, 2017

Then, contrary to his expectations he had found speculators in London willing to venture a few hundred pounds on his scheme; but the amount was insufficient and the terms were exacting.

From The Intriguers by Bindloss, Harold