How to Use deign in a Sentence

deign

verb
  • I wouldn't deign to answer that absurd accusation.
  • The man behind the counter may or may not deign to greet you.
    — Anne Kadet, WSJ, 21 Aug. 2018
  • So when the universe deigned to help out, astronomers jumped at the chance.
    — Joshua Sokol, Scientific American, 5 June 2018
  • As for the why David Lynch deigned to do this, the man explained his reasoning in a tweet.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 19 Jan. 2025
  • Maybe now the Tonys will deign to give an award for playwriting.
    — Vulture, 8 June 2023
  • The fast food nugget has faced criticism over the years — no one would deign to call them healthy.
    — Lucas Kwan Peterson Food Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2021
  • The best players deigned to have their own teams and could be happy only as the Jordans of their fiefs.
    — Harvey Araton, New York Times, 4 July 2016
  • Only the majesty of the West was good enough for them—they'd never deign to spend a weekend on one of the rinky-dink mountains of the Northeast.
    — Todd Plummer, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Oct. 2022
  • Brown, like Coons, did not deign to mention who was saying these things.
    — Nick Martin, The New Republic, 10 Nov. 2020
  • Then, when the Sun finally deigns to shine on your sign, your own ruler Venus leaves you for Scorpio.
    — Jennifer Culp, Them, 13 Sep. 2024
  • The fact that our government would deign to try limit our rights is ridiculous.
    — Zahra Barnes, SELF, 14 July 2017
  • Only thinness could deliver the prize of health care providers who would deign to treat me.
    — Your Fat Friend, SELF, 1 Sep. 2020
  • And what about produce that’s so eccentric that even a farmer won’t deign to consume it?
    — Henry Alford, The New Yorker, 29 July 2019
  • Woodley, a longtime TV star, has gone on record negging her friends who deign to watch TV.
    — Vulture, 31 Jan. 2022
  • But cry not for the titans of industry who deign to take on government work.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN, 28 Nov. 2024
  • Toronto is one of only three cities that Sasaki has deigned to visit.
    — Tony Blengino, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
  • In a real loss for art and culture, Rihanna did not deign to grace us with her presence at the 2019 Met Gala.
    — Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, 7 May 2019
  • MBrown suffers us fools who deign to ask him questions about his business.
    — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 28 May 2019
  • The Supreme Court didn’t even deign to hear his legal arguments about voter fraud.
    — John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 29 Dec. 2020
  • Moonlight seems to simply descend, deigning to visit us for the evening.
    — Ben Huberman, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2017
  • Of course Dimon, who fancies himself a truth-teller, did not deign to name names.
    — Daniel Gross, Slate Magazine, 17 July 2017
  • Only the unflappable and bulletproof Robert Downey Jr. deigned to mention the changes to the makeup of the people who voted on the awards.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Joe Biden and Donald Trump — who plainly detest each other — wouldn’t deign to shake hands.
    — Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2024
  • Moonlight seems to simply descend, deigning to visit us for the evening.
    — Ferris Jabr, Smithsonian, 21 June 2017
  • On a match point, an accidental drop-shot serve shanked with crazy spin travelled so slowly that the speed gun did not deign to rate it.
    — Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 3 Sep. 2024
  • Some alumni of prestigious schools won’t deign to wear their own school’s gear, anyway.
    — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 18 Jan. 2021
  • But against Arizona, no Ruunin’ Utes player or coach would deign to even think about saying that.
    — Alex Vejar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Dec. 2022
  • If your dog won’t deign to sip from a dish, consider giving this slick and smart dog water bottle from PupFlask a try.
    — Sara Coughlin, SELF, 8 July 2021
  • Half a day later, Trump, the most irritable man on earth, hadn’t deigned to respond to Clinton’s taunt.
    — Kyle Smith, National Review, 29 Jan. 2018
  • Crowe's unnamed protagonist doesn't even deign to speak in the opening scene.
    — Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 18 Aug. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deign.' 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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