deferential
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.
He’s definitely being deferential to Woody, and yet he’s pushing him.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
“He could come across as self-effacing and deferential, but in Don’s skilled hands those were qualities that made him an enormously strong and effective leader,” Boccardi said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
As the decades spooled past, British society would become less deferential and British media more intrusive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
"He was intensely serious but showed flashes of humour. He encouraged debate although his officers were deferential," Pike wrote in a 2019 book.
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
In other people’s presence I was, as formerly, deferential and quiet; any other line of conduct being uncalled for: it was only in the evening conferences I thus thwarted and afflicted him.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Vocabulary lists containing deferential
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