by turns
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 is accompanied on his reluctant journey to the finish line with a group of characters who by turns torment and placate him.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
As Simon Elliott describes in his biography “The African Emperor,” Severus was a mercurial and contradictory character, capable by turns of savagery, cunning, wit and generosity, and always blessed with a sense of the theatrical.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
“Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It” is, by turns, heartbreaking and inspirational.
From Salon • Feb. 20, 2026
All weekend long, the headlines out of Minneapolis have captured a moment that is by turns alarming and bizarre.
From Slate • Jan. 20, 2026
The shy girl she had known at Riverrun had grown into a woman who was by turns proud, fearful, cruel, dreamy, reckless, timid, stubborn, vain, and, above all, inconstant.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
