How to Use cut-and-dried in a Sentence

cut-and-dried

adjective
  • The decisions are even more cut-and-dried when a dancer brings in her coach.
    — Cathy Alter, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2023
  • But the rules – and their enforcement – aren’t always cut-and-dried.
    — Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN, 3 Sep. 2024
  • But, even within that process, things aren't always cut-and-dried.
    — Pandora Dewan, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024
  • For another, the issues were more cut-and-dried four decades ago.
    — Jackie Valley, The Christian Science Monitor, 3 May 2024
  • Using a cut-and-dry approach may single them out and shut them down.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes, 9 Feb. 2024
  • The facts of the matter were fairly cut-and-dried, the only issue being how the court would respond to them.
    — Matt Farwell, Harper's Magazine, 13 Dec. 2023
  • What seems like a cut-and-dried case is revealed to have layers upon layers.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 9 Oct. 2024
  • The dome atop Ford Field removes weather as a variable and makes this pick more cut-and-dried than the other three this weekend.
    — Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The dome atop Ford Field removes weather as a variable and makes this pick more cut-and-dried than the other three this weekend.
    — Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The dam removal issue is not entirely cut-and-dried yet.
    — Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 26 Mar. 2023
  • Angela told Fox News Digital the issue isn't cut-and-dry.
    — Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 24 Oct. 2023
  • But the reality of the app’s influence on discussions around the war isn’t cut-and-dried.
    — David Ingram, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023
  • The numbers on the health benefits of sun exposure remain less cut-and-dried.
    — Kara McGrath, Allure, 28 June 2024
  • That’s pretty cut-and-dried: An agent can’t refuse to work with potential clients because of these factors.
    — Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2025
  • Others say it's not cut-and-dry, or that there are other factors to consider.
    — Michael Tarm, ajc, 24 Mar. 2023
  • The problem, however, is that relative to the amount of airtime this arc is taking up, the answers seem to be very cut-and-dry.
    — Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 20 Jan. 2025
  • Having that pick — along with a second first-rounder, No. 20, as well as three second-round picks — carries a bit more intrigue than the cut-and-dried first pick.
    — Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2024
  • Clearly, there’s more to this story than a cut-and-dry acquisition.
    — Allure Editors, Allure, 14 Mar. 2025
  • That’s because of two aspects that are anything but cut-and-dried: copyright law and a new technology.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2024
  • Football is an immensely complicated sport, but this seems pretty cut-and-dry: The Niners need to run the ball more.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2024
  • The more expensive tests are often a cut-and-dry digital display to leave no room for confusion.
    — Rachael Schultz, Health, 24 Feb. 2023
  • Consumers are turning away from the cut-and-dry marketing strategies of the past in search of authentic, eye-catching campaigns that have meaning.
    — Hilary Tetenbaum, USA TODAY, 25 June 2024
  • That’s the perfect setup for a cut-and-dried, eat-the-rich story in which every non-wealthy person agrees with Marshall, protects him, and gratefully accepts the mushrooms.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2025
  • Yes, but: The politics of energy in 2024 are not cut-and-dry, and Pennsylvania is no exception.
    — Ben Geman, Axios, 23 July 2024
  • To say this momentarily threw a wrench into the idea that this year’s Oscars would be a cut-and-dried affair is understating things.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Mar. 2023
  • While Annecy audiences proved largely opposed to titles made using AI, a consensus wasn’t so cut-and-dry among some artists at this year’s event.
    — Jamie Lang, Variety, 15 June 2024
  • What’s noteworthy about that cut-and-dried response is how utterly Ferrari believes it.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 31 Aug. 2023
  • The answer to that—and what actually made Twin Peaks so compelling, beyond its core mystery—lay in Lynch’s rejection of cut-and-dried solutions.
    — Emma Stefansky, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2025
  • There isn’t really a cut-and-dried answer, but a good starting point is identifying the key stakeholders where AI is likely to be deployed.
    — Matt Kunkel, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Whether Davis’ previous statements tied to his disclosure to feds are admissible in a Las Vegas courtroom might not be a cut-and-dry answer.
    — Andrew Blankstein, NBC News, 4 Oct. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cut-and-dried.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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