cherry-pick

verb

cher·​ry-pick ˈcher-ē-ˌpik How to pronounce cherry-pick (audio)
cherry-picked; cherry-picking; cherry-picks
Synonyms of cherry-picknext

intransitive verb

: to select the best or most desirable

transitive verb

: to select as being the best or most desirable
also : to select the best or most desirable from
cherry-picked the art collection

Examples of cherry-pick in a Sentence

cherry-picked the spacious corner office for his corporate fief
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Families spent Mother's Day filling buckets and making memories at Dell'Osso Farms in Lathrop, where crowds gathered Sunday for cherry-picking season in the heart of California's top cherry-producing county. Charlie Lapastora, CBS News, 11 May 2026 For The Times) Bianco argued that crime data put out by the state has been cherry-picked by liberals to make law enforcement look bad. Hailey Wang, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2026 Now that Mozilla has revealed a dozen of them, the same critics will surely claim they too were cherry-picked and conceal less accurate results. Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 7 May 2026 Cha chaan tengs grew in popularity, cherry-picking elements from all three restaurants to create a new type of cuisine. Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cherry-pick

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of cherry-pick was in 1965

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cherry-pick.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cherry-pick. Accessed 15 May. 2026.

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