How to Use instructive in a Sentence

instructive

adjective
  • But are there places that have more compelling claims to being instructive?
    Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel, 1 Nov. 2024
  • Ahmed’s commentary about this exchange between the neighbor and his grandfather is instructive.
    Tithi Bhattacharya / Made By History, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
  • To the rest of the world, the hypocrisy is glaring and instructive.
    Oona A. Hathaway, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
  • Here, key lessons of the war in Ukraine are instructive.
    Larry Diamond, Jim Ellis, Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2023
  • In that sense, the book’s title makes for an instructive play on words.
    David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2021
  • The echoes from the earliest days of the Tea Party are instructive.
    New York Times, 19 July 2022
  • One drama that’s played out in the background of the month’s events should be instructive for them.
    Osita Nwanevu, The New Republic, 25 Nov. 2020
  • The instructive aspect of the day was as helpful as the guiding one.
    Rebecca Misner, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Mar. 2021
  • There are instructive and hopeful lessons from the past.
    Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 21 Jan. 2021
  • And the seniors profiled in the story were full of good cheer: this was instructive.
    Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
  • But what Vegas thinks about the Beavers is instructive.
    Bill Oram, oregonlive, 14 Dec. 2022
  • The most instructive, for me, at least, was about her time working as a makeup artist.
    Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2022
  • The case of Mitch Daniels is an instructive example of this.
    Kyle Griesinger, National Review, 14 Aug. 2020
  • One of the most instructive moments is how many bad ideas there are that get abandoned.
    Travis M. Andrews, Anchorage Daily News, 7 Dec. 2021
  • Sean McVay is instructive to how the Spanoses go about filling such a big job.
    Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2022
  • Though The Hand is by no means his best work, its qualities are instructive.
    Lidija Haas, The New Republic, 2 Dec. 2020
  • No one wears a turtleneck sweater quite like Maxwell and the way his fit–close to his frame, but not at all clingy—are instructive for any man.
    Caroline Reilly, Town & Country, 18 May 2021
  • More than a decade of guidance by Jarrah has been instructive, Kafeel says.
    Rifat Malik, Dallas News, 28 Dec. 2020
  • But here is where my memory of that day on 14th Street is instructive.
    Libby Watson, The New Republic, 17 June 2020
  • In this light, comparing China’s response to the war in Gaza with its response to the war in Ukraine is instructive.
    Mark Leonard, Foreign Affairs, 8 Jan. 2024
  • The good news: There is no answer Munger’s legacy is instructive.
    Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 28 June 2024
  • The difficulties on set can be just as instructive as the times when things are going well.
    Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2023
  • The dearth of inflation in the years that followed may be instructive today.
    William Pesek, Forbes, 20 May 2021
  • As for what Putin does now, the 2004 terrorist attack in Beslan may be instructive.
    Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2024
  • But, at the very least, there are chilling and instructive parallels.
    The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 Sep. 2022
  • How the women dealt with their challenges is instructive.
    Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2022
  • That’s a very instructive point when people say E.V.s are not desired.
    Neal E. Boudette, New York Times, 18 Oct. 2023
  • At the meeting, Spergel said the history of fast radio bursts is instructive.
    Leonard David, Scientific American, 9 June 2023
  • Actions are more instructive about a team’s intentions than words, and the release of Leno, 29, means Jenkins could be the Week 1 starter on the blind side.
    Brad Biggs, chicagotribune.com, 3 May 2021
  • The Hunter Biden laptop saga sure is instructive about something.
    New York Times, 28 Nov. 2021

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