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deference
in a sentence

show 189 more with this conextual meaning
  • PARRIS, as soon as the door begins to open: "No-no, I cannot have anyone."
    He sees her, and a certain deference springs into him, although his worry remains.
    "Why, Goody Putnam, come in."   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • He had the respect of everyone, and he was treated with deference in his evening practices.   (source)
  • They watched him cross the lobby, touch Mrs. Brant's elbow deferentially,   (source)
    deferentially = with polite respect
  • even as a boy I knew God was all-powerful because of Mommy's utter deference to Him, and also because...   (source)
    deference = submission to His wishes
  • Anatole held his tongue, in deference to my family.   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • With all the deference my young, arrogant self could muster, I said...   (source)
  • Pedrito and I could always swear we knew nothing about these meetings.
    It was a problem when Nelson was home from school. He'd go out there, eager to take part in whatever his uncles were plotting. In deference to me, I'm sure, they kept him at a distance.   (source)
    deference = polite respect --while submitting to another's wishes
  • His face assumes a deferential expression and he gestures broadly toward an entrance on the opposite side.   (source)
    deferential = politely respectful
  • They all laugh except MAMA, out of deference to TRAVIS' feelings.   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • The man stood at his bed and took off his hat as though in deference to some wounded hero.   (source)
  • Only Reba, with her light pimply skin and deferential manner, looked as though her simplicity might also be vacuousness.   (source)
    deferential = politely respectful
  • The man smiled and inclined his head deferentially toward Max and David.   (source)
    deferentially = with polite respect
  • with eyes cast at a deferential angle   (source)
    deferential = politely respect
  • the men nearby were backed off in deference   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • BRADY lowers his head slightly, in gracious deference to procedure.   (source)
  • He said now in a low deferential voice:   (source)
    deferential = politely respectful
  • "Charming, charming," murmured the Director and, giving her two or three little pats, received in exchange a rather deferential smile for himself.   (source)
  • comes deferentially   (source)
    deferentially = with polite respect
  • He greeted his new guests with a proud bearing and an obvious deference to their infinite and unknown possibilities.   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • With all deference, sir, I am not here to answer questions, but to make a personal statement, and I have concluded it.   (source)
  • He gets out of her way deferentially and apologizes.   (source)
    deferentially = with polite respect
  • No sooner did the Commander observe who it was that deferentially stood awaiting his notice, than a peculiar expression came over him.   (source)
  • He could have wept with gratitude that she was deferential to him.   (source)
    deferential = politely respectful
  • He bowed slightly, intending it also for K., and then went over to Miss Montag and deferentially kissed her hand.   (source)
    deferentially = with polite respect
  • Everyone was staring curiously, yet deferentially, at the foreigners.   (source)
  • Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
    Deferential, glad to be of use,   (source)
    deferential = politely respect
  • [of England:]  I was impressed, too, with the deference that the servants show to their "masters" and "mistresses,"--terms which I suppose would not be tolerated in America.   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the stranger with deference.   (source)
  • he listened to her with a sombre deference in which she found much to admire.   (source)
    deference = politely respectful
  • It was copied everywhere without the slightest deference to copyright.   (source)
    deference = consideration of (respect)
  • Moving from parapet to moat ... keeping clear, in deference to his mother, he halted and gave tongue.   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • Nina bowed her head toward the Count in deference.†   (source)
  • I had never been given such deference in my life.†   (source)
  • Lale has made a habit of acknowledging him with a deferential nod of the head.†   (source)
  • The hauntingly slow anthem played loudly as the entire corps stopped and stood in the deferential parade rest position until the final note ended.†   (source)
  • Conversely, to hide them, or try to, was a sign of deference—of deference to me.†   (source)
  • Harry thought Professor Marchbanks must be the tiny, stooped witch with a face so lined it looked as though it had been draped in cobwebs; Umbridge was speaking to her deferentially.†   (source)
  • He held his hands up in deference, slowly got to his feet.†   (source)
  • It was part deference to Mrs. Traynor, part force of habit.†   (source)
  • It was a strange requirement of the workers' jobs, this constant show of deference, but the Helpers met it admirably.†   (source)
  • Daddy went from group to group, saying something with an air of deferential sociability.†   (source)
  • Mr. Fish was as afraid of my grandmother as Owen was; at least, regarding all matters concerning the zoning laws and the traffic on Front Street, he was always extremely deferential to her.†   (source)
  • The youngest children tug his sleeves; the older ones are deferential.†   (source)
  • Her husband refused to display the deference one might expect from a policeman.†   (source)
  • they conducted themselves calmly and quietly as they seated themselves deferentially before the desk,†   (source)
  • An accomplished businesswoman employed by Federal Express in Tokyo, Yasuko didn't fit the meek, deferential stereotype of a middle-aged Japanese woman.†   (source)
  • In deference to the gravity, this was the shortest of the Templar Excursion trails, curving back after only two hundred or so meters.†   (source)
  • Their deference to Mae felt awkward.†   (source)
  • When Mr. Carter's son came home from World War I, he brought with him his army commander, a Stanford University graduate of great engineering and social brilliance named William Laird, who everyone in town called, with the greatest respect and deference, the Captain.†   (source)
  • I referred to her always as Bibi Sahib, with the deference expected of me.†   (source)
  • The sunsets linger and and then a car actually crosses the overpass, moving slowly, deferentially.†   (source)
  • Estha and Rahel accorded the second third and the third third of the Meenachal the deference it deserved.†   (source)
  • With a sort of deferential care that made her feel sick to her stomach, he went to Valentine and handed him the dagger.†   (source)
  • She glances over at the Officer with a touch of deference in her look.†   (source)
  • The innkeeper nodded deferentially to the boy.†   (source)
  • I find ugly women are usually overly deferential or incredibly rude.†   (source)
  • Nevertheless Florentino Ariza took the risk with Dr. Urbino Daza, and he was welcomed with special deference, although he was not asked to sign the gold book for notable guests.†   (source)
  • The young men drew back from Paul as she came up to him, and she found herself momentarily dismayed by the new deference they paid him.†   (source)
  • The sheriff was a lean figure, unimposing, who habitually chewed a stick of Juicy Fruit gum (though he wasn't chewing any at the moment, mostly out of deference to the American legal system, which he believed in wholeheartedly despite its flaws).†   (source)
  • The deferential tone heightened the content of his announcement.†   (source)
  • Their arrangement was not the result of deference or courtesy on Eragon's part-although he would have insisted on giving Arya the bed in any event-but rather caution.†   (source)
  • He was apparently so convinced that the Iranian teachers would watch over me in deference to his wishes that he suspected nothing.†   (source)
  • Reverend Harris was warm and friendly, and treated the regent with great deference.†   (source)
  • Eventually, someone brought out a decades-old boom box, and even the kids with guitars stopped playing in deference to the Beach Boys.†   (source)
  • But now she marked mercilessly the light, yet subdued, movements, the deference expressed when one of these people addressed another; and Gray Stoddard at the upper end of the room was easily the most marked figure in it.†   (source)
  • They were polite and did not say much, seeming to give deference to my coiled, stymied rage.†   (source)
  • Sophos and even Ambiades treated him with too much deference.†   (source)
  • The only deference to safety had been no round in the chamber.†   (source)
  • Yakub edged deferentially out of the older man's way.†   (source)
  • Three dragons, elders by appearance and manner, came swiftly to rest in front of the stone circle, where they bowed in deference before Artus.†   (source)
  • 'Oh, yes, I forgot,' said Milo, in a voice lowered deferentially.†   (source)
  • She kept her voice low, not out of deference for my newly acquired higher status but at a timbre that seemed tamped down by fear.†   (source)
  • "Howdoyado, young man," Cornelius Leonard says, deferentially tapping the brim of his Washington Redskins cap before returning his attention to a Styro-foam cup filled with some sort of punch.†   (source)
  • He looked on in amazement at the split-second precision and deference with which Tereza anticipated her partner's will.†   (source)
  • Her tone was deferential, which was why her words took a few seconds to sink in.†   (source)
  • She hadn't been that charming, and she didn't fit the deferential image he'd had of southern women.†   (source)
  • Our probate laws give supreme deference to the wishes of the person who wrote the will.†   (source)
  • Said, voice deferential, "Excuse me, citizen.†   (source)
  • I was miserable and I dared not talk to anyone about my problems; not even the officials at Men's House, for since they had learned that I was to be assigned to an important job, they treated me with a certain deference; therefore I was careful to hide my growing doubts.†   (source)
  • In deference to his position, they used the office of Security Administration rather than an interrogation area.†   (source)
  • Even more perplexing was why he was being treated so deferentially.†   (source)
  • Sensitive to Adams's seniority and his importance in Congress—and possibly to Adams's vanity— Jefferson was consistently deferential to him.†   (source)
  • But he was smiling his big open smile, and he looked down deferentially when he grasped my mortified state.†   (source)
  • If she were highborn, command would come naturally to her, and deference to them.†   (source)
  • What Alice had said about formidable gifts, why everyone treated Jane with such deference, and why Edward had thrown himself in her path before she could do that to me.†   (source)
  • Instead of being deferential to the man who controls his entry into the Communist country, Oswald is yelling at him.†   (source)
  • His eyes, although deferential when looking at Raffe, turn cold when he looks at me.†   (source)
  • And it would have been wonderful publicity for us-that we're giving up the Rearden Metal track in deference to public opinion.†   (source)
  • Youth in general, teenagers in particular, delight in setting themselves and friends apart with their own slang, and this is a culture obsessively deferential to youth.†   (source)
  • As Alessandro went past they lowered their voices, for although he was courtly and deferential, his age, bearing, and unusual self-possession awakened their memories of another time.†   (source)
  • That was how deferential they were, how cowed by Denny's silences.†   (source)
  • Everyone agrees that it is the result "of a spirit of amity, and the mutual deference and concession that our special political situation made indispensable."†   (source)
  • The guard spoke with an Iraqi accent and was deferential toward the men in the SUVfearful, almost.†   (source)
  • The reporter was so deferential that Stormgren found it surprising.†   (source)
  • His voice was deferential.†   (source)
  • KATE catches ANNIE'S eyes on her, smiles with a wry gesture, HELEN moves on to JAMES'S plate, the male talk continuing, JAMES deferential and KELLER overriding.†   (source)
  • But the operating chieftain, with deference of course to the patriarch, was a fine-looking man of about thirty-five, broad-shouldered and lithe, with the cream-and-berries complexion of a girl and crisp black curling hair.†   (source)
  • But they recovered, smiled, paid me deference, and conducted me back to the camp.†   (source)
  • I heard her grandchildren talk about her with deference, almost adoration.†   (source)
  • He'd merely stared back with blank, deferential eyes, a trace of a smile at the corners of his mouth.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, this attitude on his part contained a world of deference that excluded every trace of vulgarity.†   (source)
  • He can lay out cause his daddy got killed, and Rufus looked at the boy gratefully and the boy looked back at him, it seemed to Rufus, with deference.†   (source)
  • On the contrary, his speeches were a learned explanation of his position, setting forth the Constitutional history of the Senate and its relationship to the state legislatures, and the statements and examples of Burke, and of Calhoun, Webster, and other famous Senators who had disagreed with Legislative instructions: "Better to follow the example of the illustrious men whose names have been given than to abandon altogether judgment and conviction in deference to popular clamor."†   (source)
  • That's me," she said softly, with deference, very formally.†   (source)
  • This conflict showed itself in his attitude towards Marston: half hard and indifferent, half subtly deferential.†   (source)
  • She had altered her values in deference to the opinion of others.   (source)
  • Then came voices--the conductor's, deferential, apologetic; and a woman's, insistent and voluble.   (source)
    deferential = polite and respectful
  • doffed his cap, bowed low and spoke with mock deference: "Yessuh."   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • As Nippers, looking very sour and sulky, was departing, Turkey blandly and deferentially approached.   (source)
    deferentially = with polite respect
  • with less internal deference than he made an outward show of   (source)
    deference = polite respect
  • "You must have been very slow about it, Jacob," Scrooge observed, in a business-like manner, though with humility and deference.   (source)
  • In return there was a lot of deferential smiling, and — this wasn't faked — a lot of awe.†   (source)
  • But they showed no awe or religious deference, I realized.†   (source)
  • Doesn't it make any deference that I'm just five?†   (source)
  • The cat looked up at the Count and in deference to the season began to purr.†   (source)
  • "I will never forget that again," I bowed my head with exaggerated deference.†   (source)
  • My neighbors are deferential and reserved.†   (source)
  • He was in an ebullient mood, but his mouth frowned, briefly, in deference to Mae's recent loss.†   (source)
  • Very deferentially: If I may say it, sir, I know this man all my life.†   (source)
  • "Master Namer," the Chancellor said with equal parts deference and trepidation.†   (source)
  • Radiating deference, he made a nod that was almost like a bow to the Master Archivist.†   (source)
  • "Then I'm in your debt," I said to him, with a deferential nod.†   (source)
  • With a deferential expression, Thorv asked, "Are you better now, Shadeslayer?"†   (source)
  • This deference, paid to the "white" gaze, was the one time I addressed the "problem."†   (source)
  • The Monk paused and nodded deferentially at Gillette.†   (source)
  • I thought about putting Jockey shorts on them, in deference to Toronto, but decided against it.†   (source)
  • Mr. Hadfield stood beside the surgeon, nodding deferentially at his every utterance.†   (source)
  • He was polished and soft-spoken, and treated Winnie with courtesy and deference.†   (source)
  • What prevented me I can't know, whether it was deference or detachment or a keening heart of fear.†   (source)
  • But in our context the title bore much less deference.†   (source)
  • They were reckless, puerile, congenial, naive, presumptuous, deferential and rambunctious.†   (source)
  • It comes, like a drug, from adoration and deference.†   (source)
  • And they all treated Roran with a deference that he found unsettling.†   (source)
  • The strange beaked figure waited with deference.†   (source)
  • She was asleep in her bed, a single sheet over her in deference to the heat outside.†   (source)
  • The Foreign Minister was a man accustomed to deference, and exceedingly fond of having his way.†   (source)
  • In deference to Radchaai propriety, she wore gloves.†   (source)
  • We are your teachers; you are our students; and you will act with proper respect and deference.†   (source)
  • 'Oh, no, sir,' answered the sergeant deferentially.†   (source)
  • He was unfailingly courteous, deferential, and friendly.†   (source)
  • Which wasn't to say she had suddenly become a different person, or entirely deferential.†   (source)
  • Despite his reputation for brusqueness, he made his proposal in a deferential manner.†   (source)
  • Skaaiat's accent and mildly deferential tone were having an effect.†   (source)
  • The guards at the quarry and the warders in our section seemed a bit more deferential.†   (source)
  • The soldier gestured, slight, deferential apology.†   (source)
  • All that time, and afterward all the way up the ribbon, Seivarden was polite and deferential.†   (source)
  • Sophie knew her mother detested the ring but wore it out of her constant deference to Papa.†   (source)
  • Faintly from below Scheffler's voice called back, deferential in tone but indistinct.†   (source)
  • I hear the voices, impersonal, deferential, and the window rolling electrically down and up for the passes to be shown.†   (source)
  • He would be at a barbecue at Ahmaad and Yuko's, but out of deference to her—he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable—when Kathy arrived, he would leave.†   (source)
  • Here was a daub of the most solemn waste of all, certain to be looked upon by the technicians on duty with the mingled deference, awe and dread we have come to associate with exotic religions of the world.†   (source)
  • He saw in people's rush to please his father the intimidation, the fear, that was the real underpinning of their respect and deference.†   (source)
  • His uncle did not give him the job out of deference to his brother's widow, for she could not bear the very existence of her husband's illegitimate son, but he did find him employment as a telegraph operator in Villa de Leyva, a dreamy city more than twenty days' journey away and almost three thousand meters above the level of the Street of Windows.†   (source)
  • Well, I guess we should begin with where you were the morning your wife went missing," Boney said, suddenly apologetic, deferential.†   (source)
  • Like the sheaves of rice in Joseph's dream, like a press of eager natives petitioning an English magistrate, the old houses had been arranged around the History House in attitudes of deference.†   (source)
  • In English, they would be free of the sharply denned gradients of Korean hierarchy: formal deference, informal deference, blunt, familiar, intimate, and plain.†   (source)
  • The guard grasped them both firmly round the neck, and bowing deferentially toward his captain's back, hoicked them both protesting out of the bridge.†   (source)
  • The Korean language has no fewer than six different levels of conversational address, depending on the relationship between the addressee and the addresser: formal deference, informal deference, blunt, familiar, intimate, and plain.†   (source)
  • He was startled to see a white woman, and couldn't decide whether to be deferential or contemptuous, so he alternated.†   (source)
  • He is different now—drawn a little, and there is a quality of deference, even of guilt, about his manner now.†   (source)
  • Whatever his claim to eminence, the old revolutionary acknowledged the deference of the two young Bolsheviks with a self-assured nod of the head—all the while sitting in the very chair from which the Grand Duchess Anapova had received the greetings of dutiful young princes at her annual Easter Ball.†   (source)
  • We mitigate when we're being polite, or when we're ashamed or embarrassed, or when we're being deferential to authority.†   (source)
  • The southerners, by contrast, were downright deferential in normal circumstances, stepping aside with more than nine feet to go.†   (source)
  • Their unknown lives disconcerted him, making his smile go stiff and bringing to his cheeks a formal flush of deference.†   (source)
  • "One theory," Krogh writes, "has it that their lack of deference and their surfeit of defiance combine to make them relatively indifferent to what people think of them."†   (source)
  • They were more respectful and deferential, especially the humans, and they regarded him and Saphira with what he slowly came to understand was a sense of awe.†   (source)
  • Politely and deferentially, Powell holds up the medicine vial and swears that Dr. Verdi told him to deliver it to William Seward and William Seward only.†   (source)
  • With anyone else, certainly, Officer Como would have set in her heels, leaned in and returned to me what I deserved, but in deference (and respectful gratitude for my past efforts on her behalf) she grabbed her lunch bag from the roof of the cruiser and went around to the driver's side.†   (source)
  • Luke, Jocelyn, Raphael, Meliorn, and Magnus were eating from plates of polished mahogany; the decanters were crystal, and the cutlery—in deference to both Luke and the faeries present—was made not from silver or iron but from delicate saplings.†   (source)
  • An accommodating Hong Kong government, in deference to Peking and in the desire for 'full coverage', had supplied ponchos and squares of canvas and cheap pocket raincoats for all who wanted them.†   (source)
  • It was said with obsequious deference, and Dr. Stadler could not tell what made him hear in it the sentence: "Stick to your blackboard!"†   (source)
  • And while Glaedr was not deferential to Umaroth, he treated the other dragon with a level of respect that Eragon had not witnessed from him before, not even when Glaedr had spoken with Queen Islanzadi.†   (source)
  • It was the face of the man who had tried to trap Echo by posing as a prisoner on the truck that terrible night, the officer Sheng treated with a degree of deference.†   (source)
  • When they went down to the bunkhouse for dinner the vaqueros seemed to treat them with a certain deference but whether it was the deference accorded the accomplished or that accorded to mental defectives they were unsure.†   (source)
  • The wine flowed like water, and after they had drained their cups once or twice, the villagers forgot their deference and treated him as one of their own, which was the greatest gift they could give.†   (source)
  • And in deference to the taste of the man who would soon be her husband, she left her pumps at home and walked to her wedding in low-heeled sandals.†   (source)
  • A police officer in the tan-and-scarlet uniform of Montserrat approached the procession of four priests on the path; he was obviously as bewildered as he was deferential, nodding courteously as the four gathered together to listen, gesturing politely toward the glass doors of the lobby.†   (source)
  • Didn't she present the gifts the Lu family sent to her husband for our continued gratitude with enough deference that he would be pleased with her?†   (source)
  • And when you're a man who is variously described as dutiful, deferential, obsequious, slavish and brown-nosingly corrupt, in descending order of distinction, you need to make a show of character now and then.†   (source)
  • Artus, John, Aven, Bert, and Charles were sitting on a flat patch of grass a short distance away from the standing stones, where Samaranth landed and sat, folding his wings deferentially.†   (source)
  • He was a member of the Congressional Oversight Committee, and as such to be treated with deference, but not seriously.†   (source)
  • At some point Corinthians began to suspect that Porter's discretion was not only in deference to who she was (her position and all), but also because he too didn't want to be discovered.†   (source)
  • They were singing again over at the mechanics' boarding-house; the sound came across to her window; the vibrant wires, the chorus of deep male voices, even the words she knew they were using but could not distinguish, linked themselves in some fashion with memory of a man's eyes, his smile, his air of tender deference as he cherished her broken flower.†   (source)
  • Accordingly, Maclay treated Adams with feigned deference, hating every moment of it, as he wrote in his journal.†   (source)
  • He said it with impersonal deference.†   (source)
  • "Then your eye must be extraordinarily sensitive and precise," the scholar said in sarcastic deference.†   (source)
  • She searched me with her eyes but did not speak, and as I walked to the infirmary she trailed me at a few meters, not from fear or deference but more as though trying to regard the whole of me.†   (source)
  • I wanted to touch her, to wipe them away, but deference, instilled in me since birth, stayed my hand.†   (source)
  • …about them in the night and the horses all stood swimming up into the darkness beyond the fire and squatting in terror on their great thighs screaming and pawing the stars and he drew breath and howled again and jammed the gunbarrel into the second wound and held it the longer in deference to the cooling of the metal and then he fell over on his side and dropped the revolver on the rocks where it clattered and turned and slid down the basin and vanished hissing into the pool.†   (source)
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