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 Argentine author, whose writing habitually draws on the uncanny, here delivers a blend of superstition, dread and a leitmotif of mental instability in a register of acute psychological realism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

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

From BBC • Sep. 4, 2025

In the “Barbie” film, “What Was I Made For?” plays a key role — an instrumental version of the song pops up like a leitmotif, soundtracking introspective, existential moments for its protagonist.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 10, 2024

But the truest leitmotif of my adventure was cheese.

From Salon • Oct. 9, 2023

Though it is powerful, it is not triumphant; it is agonising - at its climax is a leitmotif associated with suffering.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall