by turns
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.
By turns funny and self-pitying, full of regrets, disappointments and thwarted ambitions, Hart is portrayed by Hawke as a man who has often been his own biggest obstacle and is coming to realize his time has passed him by.
From Los Angeles Times
All weekend long, the headlines out of Minneapolis have captured a moment that is by turns alarming and bizarre.
From Slate
As an evocation of a remarkable figure, by turns obstinate and unexpectedly endearing, Longford’s book remains unsurpassed.
As in Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic theater and novels, Tarr’s movies, by turns funny and heartbreaking, dignify human struggle with an uncommon tenacity of vision and empathy.
From Los Angeles Times
This nearly 25-minute expanded version—which brought the Monterey crowd to its feet—weaves together scored and improvised material as well as melodic and atonal elements and is, by turns, pious, pent-up, mournful, angry, swinging, chaotic and triumphant.
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
