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.

Last week he was compelled to roll back duties on more than 200 agricultural products, including coffee and beef, because they were proving counterproductive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025

Farther east, efforts to protect Mount Wilson from the Eaton fire were proving successful, and officials expected that to remain the case.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 10, 2025

Moreover, the royal chartered companies — British, Dutch and French — that by then ran those empires were proving ever less capable of effective colonial rule and increasingly inept at producing profits.

From Salon • Sep. 20, 2024

The athlete's heroics were proving a welcome distraction during the crisis, said Parisians lounging on the grass in one of the city’s parks, watching the sporting action on a big screen.

From BBC • Aug. 4, 2024

“I am not your victim,” they were demonstrating; “I have the power of my conscience,” they were proving.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson