deference

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.

When Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act in 1996, it imposed strict filing deadlines, strengthened rules against multiple petitions, and expanded deference to state court decisions.

From Slate • May 29, 2026

More than their predecessors, they have an innate versatility with the fast-evolving technology and little deference for the notion they have to pay their dues with repetitive grunt work.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

"The handshake evolved very slowly as a mode of greeting and had no bearing on hat-honor as a gesture of deference," he says.

From Science Daily • May 7, 2026

He theorises that inequality exists in a nation founded on pro-black, pan-African principles because a deference for whiteness was hard-wired into the region, long before independence.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

In the same self-consciously jocular style he soon began to refer to his Quincy estate as “Montezillo,” which he claimed meant “very little mountain,” in deference to Jefferson’s Monticello, which meant “little mountain.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis