not carved in stone

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.

Those terms are not carved in stone, however.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023

Because effectiveness must account for real-world variables, it’s not carved in stone.

From Washington Post • Aug. 17, 2021

It feels tremendously liberating to realize that the arbitrary standards we set for ourselves are not carved in stone.

From Time • Sep. 20, 2016

Lockhart, a centrist member who will have a vote next year on the Fed's policy committee, said that while a mid-2015 lift-off was not "carved in stone," he saw the data increasingly backing that scenario.

From Reuters • Dec. 11, 2014

The Sphinx of Emerson is not carved in stone.

From Humanly Speaking by Crothers, Samuel McChord