How to Use formative in a Sentence

formative

adjective
Definition of formativenext
Synonyms for formativenext
  • This experience had a formative influence on his art.
  • These are the most formative years for our sense of self in some ways.
    — David Marchese Photograph By Mamadi Doumbouya, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2024
  • Dante’s Peak is one of the formative movies of my childhood.
    — Harry Guinness, Outside Online, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Smith was born in Utah and spent some of his formative years in the Beehive State.
    — Michal Lev-Ram, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2023
  • There have been a lot of style eras between that formative bag and her Coach show look.
    — Halie Lesavage, Harper's BAZAAR, 14 Feb. 2023
  • The three friends endured the pandemic at a formative time in their lives.
    — Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Hannah has plenty of her own formative wounds wrapped in the show.
    — Time, 20 Sep. 2022
  • But the worst part by far was losing those formative years with his children.
    — Jake Pearson, ProPublica, 27 Apr. 2023
  • Like most conflicts, a formative struggle over power is at the heart of the dispute.
    — Ben Pryor, Outside Online, 13 Oct. 2022
  • People are creating films and TV shows now that look back at the things that were a big part of their formative years.
    — Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 July 2023
  • His lineage was influential from his formative years to the cusp of his career and through the present day.
    — Bianca Alysse, Men's Health, 28 Sep. 2022
  • Other creators who took the stage on Sunday night spent their formative years in the public eye.
    — Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2022
  • Several of them are U.S.-born, or have spent their formative years here.
    — Anthony Bautista, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2023
  • Threads of those formative years appear in Simmons’s work, which often shifts between the clamorous and the calm.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, New York Times, 14 Nov. 2022
  • Grayson pauses when asked what she’s learned over the years, including from her formative years with Deitch.
    — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2023
  • Having spent is more formative adolescent and teenage years in the Detroit area, Smith sought to bring his bring his skills back to a place that felt like home.
    — Detroit Free Press, 10 Mar. 2024
  • Dating is a normal part of adolescence – and a formative one at that.
    — Kirsi Goldynia, CNN, 15 Feb. 2023
  • The actor was familiar with the writer from her formative years.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 19 Feb. 2023
  • But to my siblings and I—and millions of other 90s kids like us—the film was a formative experience.
    — Sona Charaipotra, Parents, 11 Oct. 2023
  • My mother used to tell me that growing up, her best friends were her cousins, and that her tías and tíos were important parts of her formative years.
    — Nicole Froio, refinery29.com, 19 May 2023
  • Some came ready to hear songs that climbed the charts before they were born, while others reveled in re-living eras from life's formative years.
    — Matthew Leimkuehler, USA TODAY, 8 May 2023
  • But those who knew her during her formative years spotted her ease on stage from the beginning.
    — The Indianapolis Star, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Their formative years were full of games in the backyard and driveway, many of which saw competitive juices flow and tempers flare.
    — Brad Joyal, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Feb. 2023
  • Gray’s screen alter ego, Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), is captured at a younger, more formative age.
    — Simi Horwitz, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Dec. 2022
  • As if most of us spent our formative years robbing people at gunpoint.
    — The Editors, National Review, 2 Feb. 2024
  • Ali was born Virginia Rollins in 1933, and in many ways, her formative years were preindustrial.
    — Tim Carman, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2024
  • That story was so formative for me because Trayvon’s like our Emmett Till.
    — Kyle Buchanan, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023
  • In fact, sometimes those bagels are their first, and a formative experience.
    — Antara Sinha, Bon Appétit, 27 June 2023
  • For some Buckeyes, Bailey has been along for crucial steps in their formative football years.
    — Nathan Baird, cleveland, 21 Dec. 2022
  • Born in a town outside of Moscow, Russia, in 1991, Sorokin spent most of her formative years in Germany, where she was raised by middle-class parents.
    — Brigid Kennedy, The Week, 13 Feb. 2023

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

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