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

Through these depictions, the show tries to tell the histories of the nomadic, tribal and agrarian communities for whom resilient survival was the leitmotif and cloth a way of narrating their marginalised experiences.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 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

Figure 2.6: A melodic phrase based on the Siegfried leitmotif , from Wagner's opera The Valkyrie.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones