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.
• We were told those wars would be quick and decisive.
  — Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
• But at the end of the day, scale will prove decisive.
  — Ni Tao, Interesting Engineering, 15 Sep. 2025
• Those are the two, to me, that were decisive.
  — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 15 Apr. 2026
• Clegg emerged as the decisive voice.
  — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 18 Jan. 2026
• With that in mind, here’s a look at the pieces of the game that might be decisive.
  — Joel A. Erickson, The Indianapolis Star, 31 Oct. 2021
• In a battle of big men, a point guard made the decisive play.
  — Zach Osterman, The Indianapolis Star, 4 Feb. 2023
• The loss of the bridge may prove decisive on that second score.
  — New York Times, 14 June 2022
• The kid looks very decisive as a runner.
  — Andy Behrens, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
• The months ahead may prove decisive, experts say.
  — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2025
• In the decisive stages of the second game, all four of his kills came from the right side.
  — Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 2 Apr. 2026
• Miran is not likely to be a decisive vote on any rate cuts this week.
  — Erin Doherty, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2025
• For Alcaraz, the win was both decisive and tight all at once.
  — The Athletic Tennis Staff, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025
• Stanley opened the prelims with a pair of decisive wins by fall.
  — cleveland, 29 Jan. 2022
• In a world that borders on sci-fi, Horowitz is a decisive guide.
  — Carolyn Wells, Longreads, 26 June 2024
• The Huskies need a decisive win for a fan base starving for any sign of hope.
  — Dom Amore, courant.com, 2 Sep. 2021
• In a tight game, Gurley hit that decisive shot again.
  — Paul Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 9 Jan. 2026
• The decisive change is on the inflow side, not the outflow side.
  — Paul Sutter, Space.com, 9 June 2026
• Dahlin was decisive with his shot, which helped a slumping power play get on the board twice.
  — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2026
• All four teams are tied at one point each, and today's matches could prove to be decisive.
  — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 21 June 2026
• Leaders play a decisive role here.
  — Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
• In other words, the health of the system is decisive.
  — Sandro Da Silva, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
• Change sounds decisive after the fact.
  — Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026
• Only four have even pushed it to the decisive Game 7.
  — Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
• Caitlin Foord stepped up with the decisive goal.
  — Phil Hay, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026
• Then came the game’s decisive sequence.
  — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 23 Mar. 2026