How to Use pert in a Sentence
pert
adjective-
Barry’s one was just the opposite – full of pert remarks.
—Literary Hub, 13 Apr. 2026
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Sorry to disappoint the former, but sleeping in your bra is not what's going to keep 'em pert.
—Lauren Valenti, Marie Claire, 15 Jan. 2015
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On a summer day in a park in Brooklyn, the sun savaged a swarm of actors in sturdy wool coats and pert hats.
—Alexis Soloski, idahostatesman, 7 Jan. 2018
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Banana splits, with their tall scoops of ice cream and drizzles of sauce and pert cherries, made frequent appearances in my childhood.
—Daniela Galarza, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2019
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She was then dubbed the ultimate bridesmaid and launched many a fan page exalting her pert posterior.
—Nardine Saad, latimes.com, 10 Apr. 2017
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Families set out to gather the greens, then toss them with pert young scallions, vinegar and sometimes a shot of sweet sorghum syrup or honey.
—Louisa Shafia, WSJ, 27 Sep. 2018
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The models’ persistently childlike faces look hideously generic (wide eyes, pert noses, plump cheeks).
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 25 June 2019
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Even the best updos can look a little too pert, and oftentimes that’s the problem with wedding day hair, which should always look touchable and never crispy.
—Hannah Morrill, Allure, 28 June 2017
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With a bit of slow cooking, those impossibly pert, shiny tomatoes relax and soften, releasing their juices to mingle in a deeply satisfying dish.
—Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2026
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So yes, a pert derrière looks good in jeans, but strong butt muscles also protect your back and support many daily activities from walking up stairs to bending over or running to catch a cab.
—Anna Kaiser, Time, 27 Mar. 2018
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Not to mention baking powder, bullets and butter — that pert Land O’Lakes maiden beckoning from the dairy aisle.
—Carolina A. Miranda, latimes.com, 30 Jan. 2018
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In this recipe, on the other hand, alliums are front and center, with leeks standing upright, pert and proud, and calling unapologetic attention to themselves.
—New York Times, 16 Apr. 2021
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The canon is lousy with authors who yearn to be admired for their sensitivity to the full range of female personhood, be that personhood luscious, pert, or swelling coyly against a sheer camisole.
—Constance Grady, Vox, 7 Apr. 2018
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Otaño veered from tradition a little by portraying her character on first appearance as a bit more pert and flirty than usual, a defensible approach.
—Olin Chism, star-telegram.com, 23 Apr. 2017
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In the beginning of the aughts, the designer—who, at the time, was often seen in a pert sweater and collared shirt—had a mane that resembled rumpled university professor hair.
—Liana Satenstein, Vogue, 26 July 2019
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Plenty sweet, to be sure, but certainly not cloying, and despite the grapes’ long hang time the flavors are perfectly fresh — pert and bright, as opposed to the stewy-fruit notes that often burden late-harvest wines.
—Senior Wine Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 July 2019
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If The Odyssey had been the story of a glamour girl, Doris Lilly would be its pert heroine in a fur chubby endlessly stranded on a sleek banquette.
—Callahan Tormey, Town & Country, 28 Dec. 2020
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Boonbunchachoke’s strange and funny script is constructed of multiple nesting stories, like how my own vacuum pops out a pert little dustbuster that really digs into the cracks.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2026
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Panicked reports about dangerous immigrants and the president with Hussein for a middle name were presented by white women wearing snug dresses, with pert noses, bronze skin, blonde hair.
—Amy Larocca, The Cut, 10 Aug. 2017
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Just as its title values blunt simplicity, Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote’s screenplay sets up the film’s central murder club with pert efficiency.
—Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 22 Aug. 2025
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On Charlie Rose in 1996, Kellyanne Fitzpatrick looked pert and impeccable, her plucky spirit dancing across her expressive face.
—Katy Waldman, Slate Magazine, 19 Jan. 2017
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The piece, now in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, is a pert portrayal of Domino, who is shown seated at a flashy blue piano sporting a loud green jacket and yellow dress shirt.
—Ryan P. Smith, Smithsonian, 26 Oct. 2017
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This adds dimensions to their sisterly quest, even if the harmonious emotions and good intentions never fully atone for the conventionalism of the blond-on-blond character design, the tiny waists, pert breasts, jeweled eyes and pale plastic-y skin.
—Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 21 Nov. 2019
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And with the exception of Lobacz as Elvira and Ava Danzer in a small role as the pert girl next door, the surrounding cast didn’t have the requisite chops; the two preliminary backstory scenes were especially weak.
—Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 Aug. 2017
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At the Sceners Gallery on the eastern edge of Paris, far from the Metropolitan Museum, where Kim Kardashian arrived at the Met Gala in a metallic orange breastplate with pert breasts and curvaceous hips, there are several examples of the art that inspired her.
—Amy Verner, Vogue, 7 May 2026
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pert.' 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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