How to Use decisive in a Sentence

decisive

adjective

• The fight ended with a decisive blow.
• The meeting is seen as a decisive step toward a peace treaty.
• The poverty of his childhood played a decisive role in his adult life.
• I stood there wondering what to do, but my sister was more decisive and immediately went to the phone.
• You must be decisive and persistent to succeed in this competitive field.
• So, the decisive factor will be how well a show is made.
  — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Feb. 2024
• The Sooners pushed a run across in the ninth and held on for an 8-7 win to extend the streak and avoid a third and decisive game with the Tigers.
  — USA TODAY, 7 June 2023
• The Aries moon squares off with Mars today, putting you in decisive space.
  — USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2023
• The Oscars come too late to be a decisive factor, but were a nice bonus.
  — Patrick Frater, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024
• In the past, of course, the United States played a decisive role in Guatemalan history.
  — Graciela Mochkofsky, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2023
• Pierre was credited with the decisive blow of the game on her ninth and final kill.
  — Aj Traub, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Sep. 2023
• This album feels like a very decisive move away from that.
  — Vulture, 14 July 2023
• The play surprised no one, contributing to the decisive turnover.
  — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Sep. 2023
• While the songwriter only lived in the Twin Cities for one year, his days there were decisive.
  — Leo Deluca, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 May 2023
• And each of the last few years, the gap in performance between the two songs has shrunk, though Carey’s has thus far remained the decisive leader.
  — Andrew Unterberger, Billboard, 29 Nov. 2023
• To achieve a decisive victory, Ukraine needs to shatter the Russian army or force it to leave Ukraine.
  — Michael Mazza and Shay Khatiri, Washington Examiner, 1 June 2023
• The Orioles would be positioned well if their first 54 games prove to be that decisive third.
  — Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 29 May 2023
• All but one of those carries came in the decisive first half, which finished with Scripps Ranch leading 44-7.
  — Tim Meehan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Oct. 2023
• That was a terrific display of athleticism and a decisive run that bought the Bears a new set of downs.
  — Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2023
• Kamryn Koch kicked through the decisive extra point with no time on the clock as Winters Mill won, 7-6, to improve to 3-0.
  — Anthony Maluso, Baltimore Sun, 18 Sep. 2023
• In 2000, O’Connor cast the decisive vote in a case among the court's most controversial and one that would change history — Bush v. Gore.
  — Tim Dillon, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2023
• Indeed, no game over the next month will be nearly so decisive as the draw for the quarterfinals.
  — Rory Smith, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
• Starting in the late nineteen-eighties, a decisive shift occurred for both her and Gillian.
  — Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2023
• But in another, quieter motif that runs through Matar’s work, the decisive break is not when the father leaves but when the son does.
  — James Wood, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2024
• But that assault failed to make significant gains, and the new weapons did not prove decisive.
  — Isabelle Khurshudyan, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024
• The first few months of his presidency may well be decisive.
  — Bruno Binetti, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2023
• With the decisive victory, South avenged its lone loss of the season so far and extended its winning streak to nine in a row.
  — Josh Reed, Anchorage Daily News, 14 May 2023
• In the two years since the Belivuk gang was arrested, Vucic has repeatedly said the case marked a decisive break with the past.
  — Robert F. Worth, New York Times, 3 May 2023
• The result of the referendum was decisive, and at the same time, divisive.
  — Yan Zhuang, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2023
• Instead of most of the decisive mountain stages being stacked in the last week of the race, hard climbs were scattered throughout, as were hilly, punchy climbs packed with intrigue.
  — Kevin Draper, New York Times, 23 July 2023

Last Updated: 3 May 2024