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.

And while Anglo-American lullabies are typically written in major keys, Gershwin chose a minor one—evoking the depth and dignity of such African-American spirituals as “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

Jonathan Lethem, author of Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, discusses his stylistically ambitious new book.

From Slate • Oct. 1, 2023

Motherless children can attend special summer camps, for instance, or Mother’s Day retreats like those hosted by the Massachusetts-based non-profit EmpowerHer, which works with girls whose mothers have died.

From Seattle Times • May 10, 2023

But in lieu of the quasi-Hebraic melody, Sorey quotes, in his refracted style, the spiritual “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”

From New York Times • Feb. 18, 2022

He has on The Poor Motherless Girl Look—all adults get it at some point when they talk to me, like I’m doomed, shoved out of the airplane without a parachute because mothers are the parachutes.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson