leitmotif

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.

The book is crowded with characters, but “Sunshine Charlie” Mitchell, the head of National City Bank of New York, provides a sort of leitmotif.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025

Its leitmotif is push and pull: unsettling, bruising, often brutal, yet ultimately life-affirming.

From BBC • Sep. 4, 2025

But the truest leitmotif of my adventure was cheese.

From Salon • Oct. 9, 2023

His love of, and need to, work quickly became the leitmotif of the event.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2023

The goal of a leitmotif is to help the listener identify the main characters and give each a very short musical pattern, so that every time their name is mentioned, someone plays that pattern.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin