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Showing results for deferential. Search instead for defereggental.
Definitions

deferential

[def-uh-ren-shuhl] / ˌdɛf əˈrɛn ʃəl /


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.

Administrators are typically deferential to their own superiors, with whom they often identify.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

Until the 1960s, most broadcasting was dry and deferential.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

"He was intensely serious but showed flashes of humour. He encouraged debate although his officers were deferential," Pike wrote in a 2019 book.

From Barron's • Jan. 12, 2026

She’s very deferential to him, clearly aiming for this goal of “OK, and I’ll take over.”

From Slate • Jan. 5, 2026

In point of fact, Pocock, with only a lower- school education, tended to believe that it was he rather than these college men who should be deferential.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown




Vocabulary lists containing deferential