maxim

noun

max·im | \ˈmak-səm

Definition of maxim

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : a general truth, fundamental principle, or rule of conduct Mother's favorite maxim was "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

2 : a proverbial saying advised her daughter with the maxim "marry in haste, repent at leisure"

Maxim

biographical name (1)

Max·im | \ˈmak-səm

Definition of Maxim (Entry 2 of 3)

Sir Hiram Stevens 1840–1916 British (American-born) inventor

Maxim

biographical name (2)

Definition of Maxim (Entry 3 of 3)

Hudson 1853–1927 brother of Hiram Maxim American inventor

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about maxim

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Examples of maxim in a Sentence

Noun

it's a common maxim that “a watched pot never boils,” but that's not literally true

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, said, quoting the old maxim often attributed to Mark Twain. — Taryn Luna And Alexei Koseff, sacbee, "Get ready to save water: Permanent California restrictions approved by Gov. Jerry Brown," 31 May 2018 What could cut through the political crosscurrents this year is a simple maxim: Asians vote for Asians. — Vivian Yee, New York Times, "Democrats Hope Asian-American Influx Will Help Turn Orange County Blue," 3 June 2018 That maxim—a sound mind in a sound body—is the sort of bourgeois faux-wisdom that fails to equip Aickman’s civil servants to deal with the supernatural. — Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, "Weird Fiction Is Alive," 7 May 2018 Each spring, when college acceptances and rejections arrive in the mail, a simple maxim applies: The thicker the envelope, the better the news. — Alex Bhattacharji, Town & Country, "Can USC Survive Scandal and Shed Its Spoiled-Kid Reputation Once and For All?," 10 July 2018 The story of Oedipus exemplifies the maxim’s meaning. — James Romm, WSJ, "‘Know Thyself’ Review: The Evolution of a Culture," 10 June 2018 There is an immovable group of pro-Trump Americans (around 40 percent in the polls) who seem to endorse the Nike-Woods maxim. — David Hawpe, The Courier-Journal, "Book review: There's more political warfare and polarization in Trump's future," 4 June 2018 Never was the old conventional maxim, that Nature cannot err, more flatly contradicted – never was the fair promise of a lovely figure more strangely and startlingly belied by the head that crowned it. — Constance Grady, Vox, "Why Fahrenheit 451 still matters in the e-book era," 12 May 2018 And a common maxim among sports executives is that everybody wants to be the first to hire a woman head coach or general manager, but nobody wants to be the first to fire one. — Molly Knight, Marie Claire, "Becky Hammon, Woman, Is Up for an NBA Head Coaching Job," 8 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'maxim.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.