How to Use watchword in a Sentence

watchword

noun
  • Sad and somber and solemn were once again the day’s watchwords.
    BostonGlobe.com, 20 Dec. 2019
  • And that felt like the under-the-surface watchword of the evening.
    David Patrick Stearns, Philly.com, 5 Apr. 2018
  • The truth is, success would be nice, but the watchword here in Year 1 of a new era is progress.
    Howard Megdal, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2021
  • Simple was the watchword—and that applied to the service, too.
    Lee Marshall, Travel + Leisure, 1 May 2021
  • Drought was the watchword of the week: dry soils plagued the tour participants throughout the western crop belt.
    Kim Chipman, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2022
  • This is the power of trade in general and why free trade has been our watchword since World War II.
    Steve Butler, The Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2017
  • Amateurism is no longer the watchword of the Olympic movement: The word appears nowhere in the 112 pages of the current Olympic Charter.
    Victor Mather, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2024
  • Mishaps can happen, even when caution is the watchword.
    Jennie Key, Cincinnati.com, 3 July 2017
  • Fiscal restraint has been a watchword for the party for decades.
    Kristina Peterson, WSJ, 24 Dec. 2017
  • As a parent, the watchword in our household was modesty.
    Randy Blaser, chicagotribune.com, 26 July 2017
  • Out on a Limb: Eclectic and stylish fashions are the watchword at Out on a Limb – along with must have accessories and gifts.
    By Andrew Marton, star-telegram, 4 Oct. 2017
  • Pressure is almost a watchword of modern life — like speed and change.
    Roger Trapp, Forbes, 30 Aug. 2021
  • Balance was the watchword of the day for UW, which held a 24-point lead in the second half before Ohio State staged a mini-rally.
    Jeff Potrykus, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 Feb. 2020
  • Common sense must be the watchword for boaters who take to the bay and ocean on federal holidays.
    David C. Henley, Daily Pilot, 26 May 2017
  • Taking place at a factory that makes scales, the film adopts balance as its theme and watchword.
    WSJ, 1 Sep. 2022
  • In music, the watchword has been uneasy, applied even to escapist fare.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 7 May 2018
  • For him and his fellow reporters, phony was the watchword—an instinct.
    Lance Morrow, WSJ, 23 Sep. 2020
  • Scale and speed are watchwords for Mr. Musk and his save-the-world view of business, which addresses some of the biggest pressure points in climate change.
    Matt Richtel, New York Times, 24 July 2016
  • This follows from what became my watchword as a novelist: a line from a letter Don DeLillo wrote to me in the mid-’90s.
    Merve Emre, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2021
  • These, asking forgiveness from Shakespeare, are the watchwords of the coming year.
    Jon Talton, The Seattle Times, 23 Dec. 2017
  • The profound effect on 10-year-old Elizabeth, Lacey says, is that from then on duty was her watchword.
    Maria Puente and Jeff Stinson, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2022
  • Resilience has replaced efficiency as the watchword of the day.
    David Meyer, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2022
  • The 1619 Project has emerged as a watchword for our era — a hashtag, a talking point, a journalism case study, a scholarly mission.
    Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2020
  • All of these skills are helpful for a big man in the modern NBA, where mobility and versatility are the watchwords of the era.
    Jeff McDonald, ExpressNews.com, 18 Apr. 2020
  • But in a time when change is the watchword, the nation’s political divide looks remarkably durable.
    Dante Chinni, NBC News, 15 Jan. 2023
  • Sorry might have been the watchword for Sunday’s performance.
    Gary Klein Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2021
  • Inflation is the watchword as the Federal Reserve kicks off a two-day meeting on Tuesday.
    NBC News, 15 June 2021
  • Defense is the watchword in this game, with both teams ranked in the top 10 in kenpom.com’s adjusted defensive efficiency.
    Michael Beller, SI.com, 19 Jan. 2018
  • But parity figures to be the watchword throughout this 2024 season.
    Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2024
  • Austerity, that watchword of decades past, is finished.
    Felicia Wong, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2021

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