dictate
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.
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“You’re able to dictate the terms up front and also shut one side down on the field,” Lake said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Gabriel Attal, a centrist rival to become president, said that "in France, no culture, no belief, no religion, nothing and no one can come and dictate to women what their place should be".
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Sander Berge: Struggled to dictate the tempo as he had done in pre-season in an unsettled game.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Crude prices that help dictate those fuel costs are climbing again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
“I’m going to ask you one more question, Ms. Candice Miller. Just to be clear, how you answer will dictate what happens next.”
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
Every plan runs on a written document, and that document dictates what you’re allowed to do with your own money.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
The same logic dictates the "forced march" the hopefuls must undergo -- the final exercise required to earn the paratrooper's beret.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The plot of “Cape Fear” dictates that this sporting tale of homicidal pettiness can only end one way.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
“Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
We abandoned him to a kinder fate and the dictates of nature.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
This is often because studios themselves dictated the stories and angles being written about.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
Nor should it be dictated by your RMDs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
The government presented evidence to show how, despite having no medical training, He dictated medical practice at the company and was ultimately responsible for its nonstandard prescription practices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The size of recruit classes are dictated by the department’s annual budget, which is approved by the City Council before each fiscal year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
We sat at our desks quietly while Mrs. Backus, our teacher, dictated the spelling words we had to learn by that Friday.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
Activists and protesters see the focus on women as an effort to use India’s strict social norms dictating women’s behavior to tarnish the protests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Some communities have strong cultural traditions dictating who should fill the caretaker role — in many cases, that’s the eldest daughter.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
“It just seemed like he was dictating counts all day long,” Roberts said, “versus trying to be too fine, getting behind.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
“People seem to be obsessed with now dictating what I’ll do and when?!”
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
Then Mr. van Daan came in to do some dictating.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Vocabulary lists containing dictate
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 3
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You Can Say That Again: Dic and Dict
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The New SAT: The Language of the Test
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