totems

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.

But he is best known for his inimitable, Surrealist pictures featuring skeletal, architectonic figures—merging humans, animals, foliage, totems and signs—which, though indecipherable, are instantly recognizable.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026

To add spice they were without three totems of their team, Lawrence Shankland, Cammy Devlin and Beni Baningime.

From BBC • Jan. 25, 2026

More often than not, the things the gang cooks, markets or consumes are totems of their most earnest, if wildly misdirected, ambitions.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2025

Today, Vessel USA manufactures some of Architectural Pottery’s original designs as new generations of consumers discover the planters, pots and totems that still stand as visual signatures of midcentury modernism.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2024

Of particular interest are the “effigy mounds” in the shape of animals, presumably the totems of the tribes that produced them.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson