How to Use deference in a Sentence

deference

noun
Definition of deferencenext
Synonyms for deferencenext
  • He is shown much deference by his colleagues.
  • Her relatives treat one another with deference.
  • That deference may not have mattered much most of the time.
    — Steven Lee Myers, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Mar. 2020
  • Day said those plans were scrapped in deference to taking no chances with the virus.
    — Nathan Baird, cleveland, 14 Dec. 2020
  • She’s agreed to share me with you out of deference to my culture.
    — Karan Mahajan, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2023
  • The idea is that the trial court is entitled to deference.
    — Steve Vladeck, CNN, 26 Sep. 2022
  • The law requires deference to the work of state court judges, but what if those judges hadn’t done the work?
    — Anat Rubin, ProPublica, 4 Nov. 2023
  • My new method of marking wasn't out of deference to books.
    — Connie Nelson, Star Tribune, 11 June 2021
  • Some states have had little choice but to show deference.
    — Joe Drape, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2022
  • Stores were closed in deference to the holiday last year.
    — Sharon Edelson, Forbes, 8 June 2021
  • Spent in deference, as ever, to those with much more than me.
    — Lawrence Jackson, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023
  • Thomas seemed to take a shot at that deference to precedent by Roberts.
    — Fox News, 29 June 2020
  • The women were wearing sun suits in deference to the chilliness of the morning.
    — Jamie Hale, OregonLive.com, 20 June 2017
  • There still seems to be some deference to the real estate masters of the universe in the way the language is framed.
    — Peter J Reilly, Forbes, 25 Sep. 2021
  • The high court has been chipping away at agency deference.
    — John Fritze, USA TODAY, 1 May 2023
  • Noah always seemed eager to get above the fray and treated guests with deference and awe.
    — Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2022
  • Lin wrote the lyrics that pay deference to all of the towns in Puerto Rico.
    — Andres Tardio, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2017
  • Rare are those who, for any reason, earn that kind of deference.
    — Mitchell S. Jackson, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2023
  • For the business lobby, killing Chevron deference is the big brass ring.
    — Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 22 Mar. 2022
  • The drums should be the loudest in any mix — live or recorded — and the drummer shown the greatest deference.
    — John Kelly, Washington Post, 25 Oct. 2020
  • There is a deference that the White House has to senators from a state.
    — Paul Gattis | Pgattis@al.com, al, 5 Feb. 2022
  • The format had already changed this year in deference to the pandemic.
    — James Weber, The Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2020
  • There used to be a kind of deference to the U.S. Not anymore.
    — Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 19 May 2018
  • In some places, these trends point toward a certain kind of deference.
    — Samuel Goldman, The Week, 19 Jan. 2022
  • This gives the least amount of deference to the government’s reason for having that law.
    — Tom Spiggle, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2021
  • Normally in these months, my whole life is lived in deference to the season.
    — Sarah Grant, SPIN, 19 Aug. 2022
  • There's also the now-mandatory deference to the plant world.
    — Mike Sula, Chicago Reader, 1 Aug. 2017
  • The theory goes that a more united court earns more respect and deference from the public.
    — Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 May 2022
  • That show of deference — urged by advisors — has yet to pay off.
    — Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2021
  • There has been a deference that has been given in the past,’’ Murphy said.
    — Christopher Keating, courant.com, 9 July 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'deference.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: