How to Use deference in a Sentence

deference

noun
  • He is shown much deference by his colleagues.
  • Her relatives treat one another with deference.
  • There used to be a kind of deference to the U.S. Not anymore.
    Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 19 May 2018
  • 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
  • That deference may not have mattered much most of the time.
    Steven Lee Myers, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Mar. 2020
  • Lin wrote the lyrics that pay deference to all of the towns in Puerto Rico.
    Andres Tardio, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2017
  • There is a deference that the White House has to senators from a state.
    Paul Gattis | Pgattis@al.com, al, 5 Feb. 2022
  • She’s agreed to share me with you out of deference to my culture.
    Karan Mahajan, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2023
  • On its face, that sounds a lot like the Supreme Court applied Chevron deference.
    Matt Ford, The New Republic, 20 June 2022
  • Day said those plans were scrapped in deference to taking no chances with the virus.
    Nathan Baird, cleveland, 14 Dec. 2020
  • For the business lobby, killing Chevron deference is the big brass ring.
    Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 22 Mar. 2022
  • 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
  • There has been a deference that has been given in the past,’’ Murphy said.
    Christopher Keating, courant.com, 9 July 2018
  • 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
  • My new method of marking wasn't out of deference to books.
    Connie Nelson, Star Tribune, 11 June 2021
  • Then in 2016, in a show of deference to the prickly Persians, Xi went to Tehran to cement the alliance.
    Christian Schneider, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023
  • Goldberg asks: Should Trump get the same deference as Bush?
    latimes.com, 7 July 2018
  • Rare are those who, for any reason, earn that kind of deference.
    Mitchell S. Jackson, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2023
  • The idea is that the trial court is entitled to deference.
    Steve Vladeck, CNN, 26 Sep. 2022
  • 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
  • Some states have had little choice but to show deference.
    Joe Drape, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2022
  • Duterte was keen on pivoting the Philippines away from its deference to the U.S..
    Time, 22 Nov. 2022
  • Stores were closed in deference to the holiday last year.
    Sharon Edelson, Forbes, 8 June 2021
  • It was billed as a Valentine’s date night, but scheduled for the 13th out of deference to Ash Wednesday.
    Ruth Graham, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024
  • The women were wearing sun suits in deference to the chilliness of the morning.
    Jamie Hale, OregonLive.com, 20 June 2017
  • There's also the now-mandatory deference to the plant world.
    Mike Sula, Chicago Reader, 1 Aug. 2017
  • This gives the least amount of deference to the government’s reason for having that law.
    Tom Spiggle, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2021
  • Noah always seemed eager to get above the fray and treated guests with deference and awe.
    Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2022
  • That show of deference — urged by advisors — has yet to pay off.
    Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2021

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.

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