keen
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.
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A keen Arsenal fan, he likes to watch Premier League and Champions League games, as well as big matches in Spain's La Liga.
From BBC β Oct. 18, 2026
Not especially keen swimmers, they used their mousing skills to secure passage on world-traveling ships piloted by merchants and explorers.
From The Wall Street Journal β Oct. 16, 2026
That said, De Barbeyrac noted that Nintendo seemed keen not to tamper too much with a beloved classic.
From Barron's β Oct. 15, 2026
If you're keen to up your intake, try some of these recipes.
From BBC β Oct. 15, 2026
The sarcasm that had repelled, the harshness that had startled me once, were only like keen condiments in a choice dish: their presence was pungent, but their absence would be felt as comparatively insipid.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte BrontΓ«
Dr Caulfield said she was "delighted” to see Róis “proudly performing her keens to full houses, with no shame or stigmatisation involved, just audiences loving her bravery and skill".
From BBC β Dec. 31, 2025
Benjamin Wallfisch’s score keens and groans ominously, sometimes dipping into synthy electronic moments.
From Los Angeles Times β Aug. 14, 2024
She’s got a beaten-up suitcase at her feet and keens softly into her lap.
From Seattle Times β Aug. 14, 2019
He has too much of his father in him, the forlorn trumpet of John Williams’ score keens.
From Salon β Jun. 15, 2019
The priests walk slowly around the pyre, saying antique prayers, and the crowd, all in black, ignoring the black priests, keens.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
Dior designer Jonathan Anderson appeared keener than most to take some risks.
From Barron's β Jan. 25, 2026
The magic is unique and often biological—many characters have mental or physical enhancements that give them perfect memory or keener senses.
From The Wall Street Journal β Dec. 12, 2025
What they were keener to talk about was life in Henderson, a city they’d lived in and loved for a long time now—including for the MMA connection.
From Slate β Oct. 31, 2024
Maybe he now possesses a keener understanding of Martha.
From Los Angeles Times β Jul. 30, 2024
‘Yea,’ he said; ‘for though the Stones be lost, they say, still the lords of Gondor have keener sight than lesser men, and many messages come to them. But sit now!’
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
The event was hosted by Wendy Cutler, a veteran American trade negotiator and one of Washington’s keenest observers of Asian trade policy.
From The Wall Street Journal β Apr. 21, 2026
The party congress offers a rare glimpse into the structure of political power in North Korea, which remains highly secretive even to the keenest watchers.
From BBC β Feb. 22, 2026
But niche pleasures, for those who partake in them, are often the keenest.
From The Wall Street Journal β Nov. 28, 2025
For our money, Jim is both the funniest and keenest politics writer in the United States—which is to say, readers, your long national nightmare is over!
From Slate β Aug. 30, 2025
Hutton was by all accounts a man of the keenest insights and liveliest conversation, a delight in company, and without rival when it came to understanding the mysterious slow processes that shaped the Earth.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Amid the nonstop drumbeat of hundreds of feet walking together, bagpipes keened, striking an appropriately dignified tone.
From Los Angeles Times β Sep. 19, 2022
But whether the wind produced a lion’s roar, or merely keened or whistled or hummed, at its peak it was clocked by the National Weather Service at Reagan National Airport at 29 mph.
From Washington Post β Feb. 29, 2020
As the truck made its way across the square, women and children spilled out of their houses, sat down in the dirt, and keened.
From The New Yorker β Jan. 12, 2015
The metal structure keened its mournful note again.
From The Guardian β Mar. 18, 2013
When he cradled him in both hands, J.W. keened and moaned but didn’t thrash.
From "The Teacherβs Funeral" by Richard Peck
The keening chorus is anchored by Roger Troutman, who enjoyed a series of 1980s hits with sprays of talk-box-warped vocals, while the blasting beat was produced by Dr. Dre, the chief architect of G-funk.
From The Wall Street Journal β Aug. 21, 2026
Languid piano tunes give way to surging, keening tides of strings.
From Los Angeles Times β Aug. 11, 2026
Gilgamesh’s lament is not the stylized keening of epic tradition—not Achilles’ highfalutin howls after Hector strikes down Patroclus—but something rawer, humbler, more recognizably human.
From The Wall Street Journal β Apr. 24, 2026
As such, there's little to compare with the straightforward joy of Watermelon Sugar, or the keening desire of As It Was - but Styles isn't stupid enough to alienate his fanbase entirely.
From BBC β Mar. 4, 2026
A keening sound comes from deep in her throat.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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