How to Use deferential in a Sentence

deferential

adjective

• Trump will meet with these kids and his presence could very well compel the kids to be deferential to him.
  — Drew Magary, GQ, 22 Feb. 2018
• Stone is a yes-sir, no-sir senior with a deferential smile.
  — Michael Farber, SI.com, 2 July 2018
• Cheers washed across the space center, but fell to a deferential silence as the roar of the engines cracked through the air with a deafening roar.
  — Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Nov. 2022
• At each one, my father got out of the car, and was extremely deferential.
  — Sanna Wani, Time, 7 Aug. 2019
• But there is nothing overly pat or deferential about the lessons the play imparts.
  — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 24 Nov. 2019
• One wonders whether a few era-deferential tokes might have loosened them up a bit.
  — Robert Abele, Detroit Free Press, 27 June 2019
• There was no reason for anyone to be deferential to him.
  — Bruce Schoenfeld, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2016
• Since that time, Bridenstine has been much more deferential to the SLS rocket.
  — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 16 Aug. 2019
• Buttigieg was deferential, speaking about six minutes as a warmup for Harris, who spoke more than twice as long.
  — Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2021
• Andy Warhol was deferential and called him Mr. Epstein.
  — James R. Hagerty, WSJ, 11 Feb. 2022
• But the need to be deferential clearly did not mean tough questioning was off limits.
  — Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 16 Nov. 2019
• Ohtani remained deferential to Darvish, who is eight years his senior.
  — Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024
• That sort of deferential nature can slow down the reaction time.
  — Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 12 Jan. 2018
• In the run of cases, the Court’s decisions would likely be far more deferential to the democratic process and far more tightly linked to precedent.
  — Daniel Epps, Vox, 6 Sep. 2018
• There was that awkward stuff at the start of the season between Steph Curry and Durant where both seemed to be trying too hard to be deferential to each other.
  — Mark Purdy, The Mercury News, 13 June 2017
• If a deferential waiter asked whether his meal passed muster, Mr. Sarkis would gesture to a nearby patron.
  — Bryan Marquard, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Mar. 2018
• Critics said Exxon’s board was too deferential to management, which had invested in U.S. shale and cranked up debt as oil and gas prices plunged.
  — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 26 May 2021
• What’s striking about photographs of Putin and Gergiev together is that the first looks deferential, even a bit awestruck, in the other’s presence.
  — Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2022
• For all its ideals of peace and reaching across borders, the Olympics has always been deferential to existing nations.
  — Victor Mather, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023
• Rap fans want to hear artists take it all the way there, not be overly conscientious and almost deferential on the battlefield.
  — Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2024
• Duterte had proven deferential to China in recent years.
  — Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 27 Aug. 2020
• Maryna said her father, once deferential to Russia, was changed by the ordeal.
  — Anastacia Galouchka, Washington Post, 13 July 2022
• Everyone was entirely deferential to the tall and stately chanteuse, who wore the most purple of bonnets and the most scarlet of lipstick.
  — Doug MacCash, NOLA.com, 1 Apr. 2018
• Nearly as stirring was the duet by Tracy Chapman and a suitably deferential Luke Combs.
  — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2024
• The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against them last year, adopting a deferential level of review toward the city.
  — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 14 Aug. 2019
• Her co-workers are deferential, and she’s allowed to leave work promptly at 5 p.m., which is early enough to get to the grocery store before the produce section is picked over.
  — David Conrads, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Jan. 2023
• And uncles and cousins have told him of the importance of being respectful, even deferential, to police.
  — Cleve R. Wootson Jr., chicagotribune.com, 11 July 2018
• While legislators may not be in the best position to crack down on these companies, courts could take the first step by being less deferential to Big Tech.
  — Sean-Michael Pigeon, National Review, 2 July 2021
• Throughout the encounter, that woman and the other man were deferential and apologetic to the officers.
  — Rich Schapiro, NBC News, 2 Aug. 2024
• But veterans’ groups complained that the new court was being too deferential to the VA when reviewing the agency’s decisions.
  — Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY, 16 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 13 Dec 2024