cop out

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.

I think fun’s a cop-out, sometimes, when things aren’t going well—everybody likes to say, “Well, let’s just have fun.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

The Writers Guild of America, East, which represents CBS News’ editorial union, said the parent company’s cop-out “threatens journalists’ ability to do their job reporting on powerful public figures.”

From Slate • Jul. 3, 2025

Which was also a nice cop-out for me because I was new to screenwriting, so I didn’t know all the technical terms.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024

It might sound like a cop-out, but it is simply too early to tell!

From BBC • Nov. 21, 2023

In our day and age, you might give a cop-out excuse like "The heart wants what it wants," but keep in mind this was Iran in the 1940s.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi