first principles

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It is rooted in the first principles thinking popular with Musk, McNeill told me for an episode of the “Bold Names” podcast.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

Rationalists—like lawyers relying on “common sense” reasoning—believe we can deduce truth from first principles.

From Slate • Sep. 26, 2025

She argued that the Conservatives needed to take the time to go back to first principles and work out what the government should and should not do.

From BBC • May 28, 2025

For us to truly understand something, we have to be able to re-create the effect from first principles, if the principles at work are indeed what create the effect.

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2025

Our first principles told us that Pauling could not be the greatest of all chemists without realizing that DNA was the most golden of all molecules.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson